LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OP 
CALIFORNIA 
SAN  DIESO 


■^ 


PLUTARCH'S 

LIVES  AND  WRITINGS 

IBlritton  'tit  QSvmxti  Huve 
I. 


THE    LIVES 

VOLUME   ONE^i' 


Efje  lElJition  tit  (3mnO  Etiie  of  pitttardj'ss  Etbes  antj 
Mrftmgg  in  limittb  to  <!^ne  ^i)au0anli  stt&,  of 
fajljicJj  t!}is  is  Wo.  *"»*^0 


Romulus  and  Remus. 
From  the  painting  by  Joseph  Binder. 


PLUTARCH'S    LIVES    AND    WRITINGS 

EDITED  BY  A.  H.  CLOUGH  and  PROF.  WILLIAM  W.  GOODWIN 
WITH     AN     INTRODUCTION     BY     RALPH     WALDO     EMERSON 

PLUTARCH'S  LIVES 

THE    TRANSLATION    CALLED     lORYDEN'S 
CORRECTED    FROM    THE    GREEK    AND    REVISED    BY 

A.    H.    CLOUGH 

SOMETIME      FELLOW      AND      TUTOR      OF      THE     ORIEL      COLLEGE,     OXFORD,     AND      LATE      PROFESSOR 
OF       THE       ENGLISH       LANGUAGE       A'ND       LITERATURE        AT       UNIVERSITY       COLLEGE,       LONDON 

in    five    volumes 
Volume  One 


ILLUSTRATED  fTITH  PHOTOGRAVURE  REPRODUCTIONS 
OF   PAINTINGS  AND   SCULPTURES 


.  '~T'f-/F,    • 
COLONIAL 

coMPAisnr 

LIMITED 


Palma  nonsine 
pulvere  f  r  r 


THE   COLONIAL   COMPANY,   Limited 

NEW    YORK    AND    PITTSBURG 
1905 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859, 

By  Little,  Brown,  and  Company, 

In  the  Clerks  OfiBce  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


Copyright,  1905, 
By  Little,  Brown,  and  Company. 


^rintfrs 
S.  J.  Parkhii.i.  a-  Co..  Rostox,  I'.  S.  A. 


CONTENTS   OF  VOLUME  I. 

FAGE 

Preface  and  Life  of  Pldi'arch v 

LiFE  OF  Theseus 1 

Life  of  Romulus 39 

Comparison  of  Romulus  with  Theseus 78 

Life  of  Lycurgus 83 

Life  of  Numa  Pompilius 127 

Comparison  of  Numa  with  Lycurgus  .     . 160 

Life  of  Solon 168 

Life  of  Poplicola 203 

Comparison  of  Poplicola  with  Solon 226 

Life  of  Themistocles 231 

Life  op  Camillus 269 

Life  of  Pericles 318 

Life  of  Fabius 372 

Comparison  of  Fabius  with  Pericles 405 

Appendix 409 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


VOLUME  ONE 
Romulus  and  Remus    ......         Frontispiece 

From  the  painting  by  Joseph  Binder. 

Meleager  and  Atalanta    ......      Page    30 

From  the  painting  by  Peter  Paul  Rubens. 

Rape  of  the  Sabines  .         .         .         .         .         .         .        "        54 

From  a  sculpture  bj'  Giovanni  Bologna  in  Lanzi  Museum,  Florence. 

Augustus  Caesar         .         .         .         .         .         .         .        "      155 

From  a  sculpture  found  at  Prima  Porta  in  1863.    Now  in  the  Vatican 
Museum,  Rome. 

AsPASiA  OF  Miletus     .         .         ....."     349 

From  a  sculpture  in  the  Vatican  Museum,  Rome. 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX  OF  THE  LIVES. 


Volume  Page 

JEmilius  Paulus II.  155 

Agesilaus IV.  1 

Agis IV.  445 

Alcibiades II.  1 

Alexander IV.  159 

Antoky V.  156 

Aratus V.  367 

Aristides II.  280 

Artaxerxes V.  421 

Brutus V.  302 

C^SAR IV.  256 

Camillus I.  269 

Marcus  Cato II.  316 

Cato  the  Younger IV.  370 

Cicero  , V.  35 

CiMON III.  198 

Cleomenes IV.  467 

C0RIOLANU8 II.  52 

Crassus       III.  331 

Demetrius V.  95 

Demosthenes V.  1 

Dion V.  245 

EuMENES III.  416 

Fabius I.  372 

Flamininus II.  384 

Galba V.  456 

Caius  Gracchus IV.  531 

Tiberius  Gracchus IV.  506 

LUCULLUS III.  227 

Lycurgus I.  83 

Lysander III.  104 

Marcellus II.  238 

Marius III.  48 

NiCiAS in.  289 

NUMA    POMPILIUS I.  127 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 

Volume  Page 

Otho V.  487 

Pelopidab II.  201 

Pericles I.  318 

Philop(emen II.  360 

Phocion IV.  329 

POMPEY IV.  50 

POPLICOLA I.  203 

Pyrrhus III.  1 

Romulus I.  39 

Sertorius III.  382 

Solon I.  168 

Sylla III.  141 

Thkmistocles I.  231 

Theseus I.  1 

TiMOLEON II.  107 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX  OF  THE  COMPARISONS. 


Agesilaus  and  Pompey 

Agis  and  Cleomenes  and  the  Gracchi 
Alcibiades  and  Coriolancs    .... 
Aristides  and  Marcus  Cato  .... 

CiMON   AND   LUCULLUS  

Demetrius  and  Antony 

Demosthenes  and  Cicero 

Dion  and  Brutus    

Lycurgus  and  Numa 

Lysander  and  Sylla  

NiciAS  and  Crassus 

Pelopidas  and  Marcellus       .... 

Pericles  and  Fabius 

Philopcemen  and  Flamininus       .     .     . 

Sertorius  and  Eumenes 

Solon  and  Poplicola 

Theseus  and  Romulus 

TiMOLEON   AND    JEmILIUS   PaULUS  .       .       . 


T^olume 

Page 

IV. 

152 

IV. 

553 

II. 

101 

II. 

353 

III. 

284 

V. 

240 

V. 

89 

V. 

362 

I. 

160 

in. 

192 

III. 

376 

11. 

276 

I. 

405 

II. 

413 

m. 

441 

I. 

226 

I. 

78 

II. 

198 

PREFACE, 

CONTAINING  A  LIFE   OF  PLUTAECH. 


The  collection  so  well  known  as  "  Plutarch's 
Lives,"  is  neither  in  form  nor  in  arrangement 
what  its  author  left  behind  him. 

To  the  proper  work,  the  Parallel  Lives,  nar- 
rated in  a  series  of  Books,  each  containing  the 
accounts  of  one  Greek  and  one  Koman,  followed 
by  a  Comparison,  some  single  lives  have  been 
appended,  for  no  reason  but  that  they  are  also 
biographies.  Otho  and  Galba  belonged,  prob- 
ably, to  a  series  of  Eoman  Emperors  from 
Augustus  to  Vitellius.  Artaxerxes  and  Aratus 
the  statesman  are  detached  narratives,  like  oth- 
ers which  once,  we  are  told,  existed,  —  Hercules, 
Aristomenes,  Hesiod,  Pindar,  Daiphantus,  Crates 
the  cynic,  and  Aratus  the  poet. 

In  the  Parallel  Lives  themselves  there  are 
gaps.  There  was  a  Book  containing  those  of 
Epaminondas  and  Scipio  the  younger.  Many 
of  the  comparisons  are  wanting,  have  either  been 
lost,  or  were  not  completed.  And  the  reader 
will  notice  for  himself  that  references  made  here 


PREFACE. 


and  there  in  the  extant  lives,  show  that  their 
original  order  was  different  from  the  present.  In 
the  very  first  page,  for  example,  of  the  book, 
in  the  life  of  Theseus,  mention  occurs  of  the  Hves 
of  Lycurgus  and  Numa,  as  already  written. 

The  plain  facts  of  Plutarch's  own  life  may  be 
given  in  a  very  short  compass.  He  was  bom, 
probably,  in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  about  a.d.  45 
or  50.  His  native  place  was  Chgeronea,  in  Boeotia, 
where  his  family  had  long  been  settled  and  was  of 
good  standing  and  local  reputation.  He  studied 
at  Athens  under  a  philosopher  named  Ammonius. 
He  visited  Egypt.  Later  in  life,  some  time  be- 
fore A.D.  90,  he  was  at  Rome  "  on  public  busi- 
ness,"—  a  deputation  perhaps,  from  Chaeronea. 
He  continued  there  long  enough  to  give  lectures 
which  attracted  attention.  Whether  he  visited 
Italy  once  only,  or  more  often,  is  uncertain. 

He  was  intimate  with  Sosius  Senecio,  to  all 
appearances  the  same  who  was  four  times  consul. 
The  acquaintance  may  have  sprung  up  at  Rome, 
where  Sosius,  a  much  younger  man  than  him- 
self,* may  have  first  seen  him  as  a  lecturer;  or 
they  may  have  previously  known  each  other  in 
Greece. 

To  Greece  and  to  Chasronea  he  returned,  and 
appears  to  have  spent  in  the  little  town,  which 
he  was  loth  "  to  make  less  by  the  withdrawal  of 

*  Unless  the  expression  "  my  to  be  taken  as  a  piece  of  pleas- 
sons  your   companions "   ought     antry. 


PREFACE.  Xi 

even  one  inhabitant,"  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
He  took  part  in  the  piibhc  business  of  the  place 
and  the  neighborhood.  He  was  archon  in  the 
town,  and  officiated  many  years  as  a  priest  of 
Apollo,  apparently  at  Delphi. 

He  was  married,  and  was  the  father  of  at  least 
five  children,  of  whom  two  sons,  at  any  rate, 
survived  to  manhood.  His  greatest  work,  his 
Biographies,  and  several  of  his  smaller  writings, 
belong  to  this  later  period  of  his  life,  under  the 
reign  of  Trajan.  Whether  he  survived  to  the 
time  of  Hadrian  is  doubtful.  If  A.D.  45  be  taken 
by  way  of  conjecture  for  the  date  of  his  birth, 
A.D.  120,  Hadrian's  fourth  year,  may  be  assumed, 
in  like  manner,  as  pretty  nearly  that  of  his  death. 
All  that  is  certain  is  that  he  lived  to  be  old ;  that 
in  one  of  his  fictitious  dialogues  he  describes  him- 
self as  a  young  man  conversing  on  philosophy 
with  Ammonius  in  the  time  of  Nero's  visit  to 
Greece,  A.D.  66-67 ;  and  that  he  was  certainly 
alive  and  still  writing  in  A.D.  106,  the  winter 
which  Trajan,  after  building  his  bridge  over  the 
Danube,  passed  in  Dacia.  "We  are  told,"  he 
says,  in  his  "Inquiry  into  the  Principle  of  Cold," 
"by  those  who  are  now  wintering  with  the  Em- 
peror on  the  Danube,  that  the  freezing  of  water 
will  crush  boats  to  pieces." 

To  this  bare  outline  of  certainties,  several 
names  and  circumstances  may  be  added  from  his 


Xll 


PREFACE. 


writings;  on  which  indeed  alone  we  can  safely 
rely  for  the  very  outline  itself.  There  are  a  few 
allusions  and  anecdotes  in  the  Lives ;  and  from 
his  miscellaneous  compositions,  his  Essays,  Lec- 
tures, Dialogues,  Table-Talk,  etc.,  the  imagina- 
tion may  furnish  itself  with  a  great  variety  of 
curious  and  interesting  suggestions. 

The  name  of  his  great-grandfather,  Nicarchus, 
is  incidentally  recorded  in  the  life  of  Antony. 
"My  great-grandfather  used,"  he  says,  "to  tell 
how  in  Antony's  last  war  the  whole  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Chgeronea  were  put  in  requisition  to  bring 
down  corn  to  the  coast  of  the  gulf  of  Corinth, 
each  man  carrying  a  certain  load,  and  soldiers 
standing  by  to  urge  them  on  with  the  lash." 
One  such  journey  was  made,  and  they  had 
measured  out  their  burdens  for  the  second,  when 
news  arrived  of  the  defeat  at  Actium.*  Lam- 
prias,  his  grandfather,  is  also  mentioned  in  the 
same  life.  Philotas,  the  physician,  had  told  him 
an  anecdote  illustrating  the  luxuriousness  of 
Antony's  life  in  Egypt.  His  father  is  more  than 
once  spoken  of  in  the  minor  works,  but  never 
mentioned  by  his  name. 

The  name  of  Ammonius,  his  teacher  and  pre- 
ceptor at  Athens,  occurs  repeatedly  in  the  minor 
works,   and  is  once  specially  mentioned  in   the 

*  There  appears,  however,  to  bered  seeing  his  great-grand- 
be  no  sure  reason  for  saying  father,  and  hearing  him  tell  the 
that  Plutarch  himself    remem-      story. 


PREFACE.  xiii 

Lives  ;  a  descendant  of  Themistoclcs  had  studied 
with  Plutarch  under  Ammonius.  We  find  it 
mentioned  that  he  three  times  held  the  office, 
once  so  momentous  m  the  world's  history,  of 
strategus  at  Athens.*  This,  like  that  of  the 
Boeotarchs  in  Bceotia,  continued  under  the  Em- 
pire to  be  intrusted  to  native  citizens,  and  judg- 
ino*  from  what  is  said  in  the  little  treatise  of 
Political  Precepts,  was  one  of  the  more  important 
places  under  the  Roman  provincial  governor. 

*'  Once,"  Plutarch  tells  us,  "  our  teacher,  Am- 
monius, observing  at  his  afternoon  lecture  that 
some  of  his  auditors  had  been  indulging  too 
freely  at  breakfast,  gave  directions,  in  our  pres- 
ence, for  chastisement  to  be  administered  to  his 
own  son,  because,  he  said,  the  young  man  has  de- 
clined to  take  his  breakfast  unless  he  has  sour  wine 
with  it,  fixing  his  eyes  at  the  same  time  on  the 
oflfending  members  of  the  class." 

The  following  anecdote  appears  to  belong  to 
some  period  a  little  later  than  that  of  his  studies 
at  Athens.  **  I  remember,  when  I  myself  was  still 
a  young  man,  I  was  sent  in  company  with  another 
on  a  deputation  to  the  proconsul ;  my  colleague, 

*  This  may  throw  some  doubt  Plutarch  was  certainly  skilled 

on  the  statement  (with  which,  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Grseco- 

however,  it  is  perhaps  not  abso-  Egyptians  (see  his  treatise  ad- 

lutely   incompatible)    made   by  dressed  to  the  learned  lady  Clea, 

the  Byzantine  historian  Eunapi-  on  Isis  and  Osiris)  ;  but  he  may, 

us,  that  "Ammonius,  the  teacher  for    anything   we    know,    have 

of  the  divine  Plutarch,  was  an  staid  long  and  studied  much  at 

Egyptian."  Alexandria, 


■vJy  preface. 


it  so  happened,  was  unable  to  proceed,  and  I 
saw  the  proconsul  and  performed  the  commission 
alone.  Upon  my  return,  when  I  was  about  to 
lay  down  my  office,  and  to  give  an  account  of  its 
discharge,  my  father  got  up  in  the  assembly  and 
bade  me  privately  to  take  care  not  to  say  /  went, 
but  we  went,  nor  /  said,  but  we  said,  and  in 
the  whole  narration  to  give  my  companion  his 
share." 

Of  his  stay  in  Italy,  his  visit  to  or  residence 
in  Rome,  we  know  little  beyond  the  statement 
which  he  gives  us  in  the  life  of  Demosthenes, 
that  public  business  and  visitors  who  came  to  see 
him  on  subjects  of  philosophy  took  up  so  much 
of  his  time  that  he  learned,  at  that  time,  but 
little  of  the  Latin  language.  He  must  have 
travelled  about,  for  he  saw  the  bust  or  statue  of 
Marius  at  Ravenna,  as  he  informs  us  in  the 
beginning  of  Marius's  life.  He  undertook,  he 
tells  us  in  his  essay  on  Brotherly  Affection,  the 
office,  whilst  he  was  in  Rome,  of  arbitrating 
between  two  brothers,  one  of  whom  was  con- 
sidered to  be  a  lover  of  philosophy.  ''  But  he 
had,"  he  says,  "  in  reaUty,  no  legitimate  title  to 
the  name  either  of  brother  or  of  philosopher. 
When  I  told  him  I  should  expect  from  him  the 
behavior  of  a  philosopher  towards  one  who  was 
first  of  all  an  ordinary  person  making  no  such 
profession,  and  in  the  second  place,  a  brother,  as 
for  the  first  point,    replied   he,   it  may   he   well 


PREFACE.  XV 

enough;  hut  I  don't  attach  any  great  importance 
to  the  fact  of  two  people  having  come  from  the 
same  pair  of  bodies ;  "  an  impious  piece  of  free- 
tliinking  which  met,  of  course,  with  Plutarch's 
indignant  rebuke  and  reprobation. 

A  more  remarkable  anecdote  is  related  in  his 
discourse  on  Inquisitiveness.  Among  other  pre- 
cepts for  avoiding  or  curing  the  fault,  ^*We 
should  habituate  ourselves,"  he  says,  "when 
letters  are  brought  to  us,  not  to  open  them  in- 
stantly and  in  a  hurry,  not  to  bite  the  strings  in 
two,  as  many  people  will,  if  they  do  not  succeed 
at  once  with  their  fingers  ;  when  a  messenger 
comes,  not  to  run  to  meet  him ;  not  to  jump  up, 
when  a  friend  says  he  has  something  new  to  tell 
lis, — rather,  if  he  has  some  good  or  useful  advice 
to  give  us.  Once  when  I  was  lecturing  at  Rome, 
Rusticus,  whom  Domitian  afterwards,  out  of 
jealousy  of  his  reputation,  put  to  death,  was  one 
of  my  hearers  ;  and  while  I  was  going  on,  a 
soldier  came  in  and  brought  him  a  letter  from 
the  Emperor.  And  when  every  one  was  silent, 
and  I  stopped  in  order  to  let  him  read  the  letter, 
he  declined  to  do  so,  and  put  it  aside  until  I  had 
finished  and  the  audience  withdrew,  —  an  example 
of  serious  and  dignified  behavior  which  excited 
much  admiration." 

L.  Junius  Arulenus  Rusticus,  the  friend  of 
Pliny  and  Tacitus,  glorified  among  the  Stoic 
martvrs  whose  names  are  written  in  the  life  of 


Xvi  PREFACE. 

Agricola,  was  in  youth  the  ardent  disciple  of 
Thrasea  Psetus;  and  when  Psetus  was  destined 
by  Nero  for  death,  and  the  Senate  was  prepared 
to  pass  the  decree  for  his  condemnation,  Eusticus, 
in  the  fervor  of  his  feeUngs,  was  eager  to  inter- 
pose the  veto  still  attaching  in  form  to  the  office 
—  which  he  happened  then  to  hold  —  of  tribune, 
and  was  scarcely  withheld  by  his  master  from 
a  demonstration  which  would  but  have  added 
him,  before  his  time,  to  the  catalogue  of  victims. 
After  performing,  in  the  civil  wars  ensuing  on 
the  death  of  Nero,  the  duties  of  praetor,  he  pub- 
lished in  Domitian's  time  a  life  of  Thrasea,  as  did 
Senecio  one  of  Helvidius,  and  Tacitus,  probably, 
himself,  that  of  Agricola :  the  bold  language  of 
which  insured  his  death.  Among  the  teachers 
who  afterwards  gave  instruction  to  the  youth- 
ful Marcus  Aurelius,  we  read  the  name  of  an 
Arulenus  Rusticus,  probably  his  grandson,  united 
with  that  of  Sextus  of  Chseronea,  Plutarch's 
nephew,  "  who  taught  me,"  says  the  virtuous 
Emperor,  "  by  his  own  example,  the  just  and 
wise  habits  he  recommended,"  and  to  whose  door, 
in  late  life,  he  was  still  seen  to  go,  still  desirous, 
as  he  said,  to  be  a  learner. 

It  does  not,  of  course,  follow  from  the  terms 
in  which  the  story  is  related,  that  the  incident 
occurred  in  Domitian's  time,  and  that  it  was  to 
Domitian's  letter  tliat  Plutarch's  discourse  was 
preferred.     But  that  Plutarch  was  at  Rome  in  or 


PREFACE.  Xvii 

after  Domitian's  reign,  seems  to  be  fairly  inferred 
from  the  language  in  which  he  speaks  of  the 
absurd  magnificence  of  Domitian's  palaces  and 
other  imperial  buildings. 

His  two  brothers,  Timon  and  Lamprias,  are 
frequently  mentioned  in  his  Essays  and  Dia- 
logues. They,  also,  appear  to  have  been  pupils 
of  Ammonius.  In  the  treatise  on  Affection  be- 
tween Brothers,  after  various  examples  of  the 
strength  of  this  feeling,  occurs  the  following 
passage :  "  And  for  myself,"  he  says,  *'  that 
among  the  many  favors  for  which  I  have  to 
thank  the  kindness  of  fortune,  my  brother  Ti- 
mon's  affection  to  me  is  one,  past  and  present, 
that  may  be  put  in  the  balance  against  all  the 
rest,  is  what  every  one  that  has  so  much  as  met 
with  us  must  be  aware  of,  and  our  friends,  of 
course,  know  well." 

His  wife  was  Timoxena,  the  daughter  of  Alex- 
ion.  The  circumstances  of  his  domestic  life 
receive  their  best  illustration  from  his  letter 
addressed  to  this  wife  on  the  loss  of  their  one 
daughter,  born  to  them,  it  would  appear,  late  in 
life,  long  after  her  brothers.  "  Plutarch  to  his 
wife,  greeting.  The  messengers  you  sent  to  an- 
nounce our  child's  death  apparently  missed  the 
road  to  Athens.  I  was  told  about  my  daughter 
on  reaching  Tanagra.  Everthing  relating  to  the 
funeral  I  suppose  to  have  been  already  performed ; 
my  desire  is  that  all  these  arrangements  may  have 


vYiJi  PREFACE, 

been  so  made  as  will  now  and  in  the  future  be 
most  consoling  to  yourself.  If  there  is  anything 
which  you  have  wished  to  do  and  have  omitted, 
awaiting  my  opinion,  and  think  would  be  a  relief 
to  you,  it  shall  be  attended  to,  apart  from  all  ex- 
cess and  superstition,  which  no  one  would  like 
less  than  yourself.  Only,  my  wife,  let  me  hope 
that  you  will  maintain  both  me  and  yourself 
within  the  reasonable  limits  of  grief  What  our 
loss  really  amounts  to,  I  know  and  estimate  for 
myself  But  should  I  find  your  distress  exces- 
sive, my  trouble  on  your  account  will  be  greater 
than  on  that  of  our  loss.  I  am  not  a  '  stock  or 
stone,'  as  you,  my  partner  in  the  care  of  our 
numerous  children,  every  one  of  whom  we  have 
ourselves  brought  up  at  home,  can  testify.  And 
this  child,  a  daughter,  born  to  your  wishes  after 
four  sons,  and  affording  me  the  opportunity  of 
recording  yom'  name,  I  am  well  aware  was  a 
special  object  of  affection." 

The  sweet  temper  and  the  pretty  ways  of  the 
child,  he  proceeds  to  say,  made  the  privation  pe- 
culiarly painful.  '*  Yet  why,"  he  says,  "  should 
we  forget  the  reasonings  we  have  often  addressed 
to  others,  and  regard  our  present  pain  as  obliter- 
ating and  effacing  our  former  joys  ?  "  Those  who 
had  been  present  had  spoken  to  him  in  terms  of 
admiration  of  the  calmness  and  simplicity  of  her 
behavior.  The  funeral  had  been  devoid  of  any 
useless  and  idle  sumptuosity,  and  her  own  house 


PREFACE.  xix 

of  all  display  of  extravagant  lamentation.  This 
was  indeed  no  wonder  to  liim,  who  knew  how 
much  her  plain  and  unluxurious  living  had  sur- 
prised his  philosophical  friends  and  visitors,  and 
who  well  remembered  her  composure  under  the 
previous  loss  of  the  eldest  of  her  children,  and 
again,  "  when  our  beautiful  Charon  left  us."  "  I 
recollect,"  he  says,  "that  some  acquaintance  from 
abroad  were  coming  up  with  me  from  the  sea 
when  the  tidings  of  the  child's  decease  were 
brought,  and  they  followed  with  our  other  friends 
to  the  house ;  but  the  perfect  order  and  tran- 
quillity they  found  there  made  them  believe,  as 
I  afterwards  was  informed  they  had  related,  that 
nothing  had  happened,  and  that  the  previous 
intelligence  had  been  a  mistake." 

The  Consolation  (so  the  letter  is  named)  closes 
with  expressions  of  belief  in  the  immortality  of 
each  human  soul ;  in  which  the  parents  are 
sustained  and  fortified  by  the  tradition  of  their 
ancestors,  and  the  revelations  to  which  they 
had  both  been  admitted,  conveyed  in  the  mystic 
Dionysian  ceremonies. 

There  is  a  phrase  in  the  letter  which  might  be 
taken  to  imply  that  at  the  time  of  this  domestic 
misfortune,  Plutarch  and  Timoxena  were  already 
grandparents.  The  marriage  of  their  son  Auto- 
bulus  is  the  occasion  of  one  of  the  dinner-parties 
recorded  in  the  Symposiac  Questions ;  and  in  one 
of  the  dialogues,  there  is  a  distinct  allusion  to 


XX 


PREFACE. 


Autobulus's  son.  Plutarch  inscribes  tiie  little 
treatise  in  explanation  of  the  Timaeus  to  his  two 
sons,  Autobulus  and  Plutarch.  They  must  cer- 
tainly have  been  grown  up  men,  to  have  anything 
to  do  with  so  difficult  a  subject.  In  his  Inquiry 
as  to  the  Way  in  which  the  Young  should  read 
the  Poets,  ''It  is  not  easy,"  he  says,  addressing 
Marcus  Sedatus,  ''  to  restrain  altogether  from 
such  reading  young  people  of  the  age  of  my 
Soclarus  and  your  Oleander."  But  whether  So- 
clarus  was  a  son,  or  a  grandson,  or  some  more 
distant  relative,  or,  which  is  possible,  a  pupil,  does 
not  appear.  Eurydice,  to  whom  and  to  Polli- 
anus,  her  newly  espoused  husband,  he  addresses 
his  Marriage  Precepts,  seems  to  be  spoken  of 
as  a  recent  inmate  of  his  house ;  but  it  cannot 
be  inferred  that  she  was  a  daughter,  nor  does  it 
seem  likely  that  the  little  Timoxena's  place  was 
ever  filled  up.* 

The  office  of  Archon,  which  Plutarch  held  in 
his  native  municipality,  was  probably  only  an 
annual  one ;  but  very  likely  he  served  it  more 
than  once.  He  seems  to  have  busied  himself 
about  all  the  little  matters  of  the  town,  and  to 
have  made  it  a  point  to  undertake  the  humblest 
duties.     After  relating  the  story  of  Epaminondas 

*  That  he  had  more  than  two  sons  having  staid  too  long  at  the 

sons  who  grew  up,  at  any  rate,  theatre,   and  being,    in    conse- 

to  youth,  appears  from  a  passage  quence,  too  late  at  supper, 
where  he  speaks  of  his  younger 


PREFACE.  Xxi 

giving  dignity  to  the  office  of  Chief  Scavenger, 
"And  I,  too,  for  that  matter,"  he  says,  "am 
often  a  jest  to  my  neighbors,  when  they  see  me, 
as  they  frequently  do,  in  pubHc,  occupied  on 
very  similar  duties ;  but  the  story  told  about 
Antisthenes  comes  to  my  assistance.  When  some 
one  expressed  sui'prise  at  his  carrying  home  some 
pickled  fish  from  market  in  his  own  hands.  It  is, 
he  answered,  for  myself.  Conversely,  when  I 
am  reproached  with  standing  by  and  watching 
while  tiles  are  measured  out,  and  stone  and  mor- 
tar brought  up.  This  service,  I  say,  is  not  for 
myself ;  it  is  for  my  country." 

In  the  little  essay  on  the  question,  Whether 
an  Old  Man  should  continue  in  Public  Life, 
written  in  the  form  of  an  exhortation  to  Eu- 
phanes,  an  ancient  and  distinguished  member  of 
the  Areopagus  at  Athens,  and  of  the  Amphic- 
tyonic  council,  not  to  relinquish  his  duties,  "  Let 
there  be  no  severance,"  he  says,  "in  our  long 
companionship,  and  let  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other  of  us  forsake  the  life  that  was  our  choice." 
And  alluding  to  his  own  functions  as  priest  of 
Apollo  at  Delphi,  "You  know,"  he  adds  in 
another  place,  "  that  I  have  served  the  Pythian 
God  for  many  pythiads*  past,  yet  you  would  not 
now  tell  me,  you  have  taken  part  enough  in  the 
sacrifices,  processions,  and  dances,  and  it  is  high 

*  Periods  for  four  years  elaps-     the  Pythian  games,  like  the  Oly  m- 
ing  between  the  celebrations  of     piads  for  the  Olympic  games. 


Xxii  PREFACE. 


timey  Plutarch,  now  you  are  an  old  man,  to  lay 
aside  your  garland,  and  reti7'e  as  superannuated 
from  the  oracled 

Even  in  these,  the  comparatively  few,   more 
positive  and  matter-of-fact  passages  of  allusion 
and  anecdote,  there  is  enough  to  bring  up  some- 
thing of  a  picture  of  a  happy  domestic  life,  half 
academic,  half  municipal,  passed  among  affection- 
ate relatives   and  well-known   friends,   inclining 
most  to  literary  and  moral  studies,  yet  not  cut  off 
from  the  duties  and   avocations  of  the  citizen. 
We  cannot,  of  course,  to  go  yet  further,  accept 
the   scenery  of  the  fictitious  Dialogues   as  his- 
torical;  yet  there  is  much  of  it  which  may  be 
taken  as,  so  to  say,  pictorially  just ;  and  there  is, 
probably,  a  good   deal   here   and   there  that  is 
literally   true  to  the  fact.      The   Symposiac,  or 
After-Dinner  Questions,  collected  in  nine  books, 
and  dedicated  to  Sosius  Senecio,  were  discussed, 
we  are  told,  many  of  them,  in  the  company  of 
Sosius  himself,  both  at  Eome  and  in  Greece,  as, 
for   example,  when   he   was   with   them   at  the 
marriage  festivities  of  Autobulus.     Lamprias  and 
Timon,  the  author's  brothers,  are  frequent  speak- 
ers, each  with   a  distinctly  traced   character,  in 
these   conversations ;    the  father   and   the   elder 
Lamprias,    the    grandfather,    both   take    an   oc- 
casional, and  the  latter  a  lively  part ;  there  is  one 
whole  book  in  which  Ammonius  predommates; 


PREFACE.  xxiii 

the  scene  is  now  at  Delphi,  and  now  at  Athens, 
sometimes  perhaps,  but  rarely,  at  Rome,  some- 
times at  the  celebrations  of  the  Games.  Plutarch, 
in  his  priestly  capacity,  gives  an  entertainment  in 
honor  of  a  poetic  victor  at  the  Pythia,  there  is  an 
Isthmian  dinner  at  Corinth,  and  an  Olympian 
party  at  Elis.  As  an  adopted  Athenian  citizen 
of  the  Leontid  tribe,  he  attends  the  celebration 
of  the  success  of  his  friend,  the  philosophic  poet 
Serapion.  The  dramatis  persojice  of  the  various 
little  pieces  form  a  company,  when  put  together, 
of  more  than  eighty  names,  —  philosophers,  rhet- 
oricians, and  grammarians,  several  physicians, 
Euthydemus  his  colleague  in  the  priesthood, 
Alexion  his  father-in-law,  and  four  or  five  other 
connections  by  marriage,  Favorinus  the  philos- 
opher of  Aries  in  Provence,  afterwards  favored 
by  Hadrian,  to  whom  he  dedicates  one  of  his 
treatises,  and  who  in  return  wrote  an  essay  called 
Plutarchus,  on  the  Academic  Philosophy.  Sera- 
pion entertains  them  in  a  garden  on  the  banks  of 
the  Cephisus.  They  dine  with  a  friendly  phy- 
sician on  the  heights  of  Hyampolis,  and  meet  in 
a  party  at  the  baths  of  ^depsus.  The  questions 
are  of  the  most  miscellaneous  description,  grave 
sometimes,  and  moral,  grammatical,  and  antiqua- 
rian, and  often  festive  and  humorous.  In  what 
sense   does   Plato   say   that    God  uses  geometry? 

Why   do   we  hear  better  hy  night  than  by  day'? 

Why  are  dreams  least  true  in  autumn  ?      Which 


vxiv  PREFACE. 

existed  first,  the  hen  or  the  egg  ?  Which  of  Veiius^s 
hands  did  Diomed  wound?  Lamprias,  the  grand- 
father, finds  fault  with  his  son,  Plutarch's  father, 
for  inviting  too  many  guests  to  the  parties  given 
*'  when  we  came  home  from  Alexandria."  Am- 
monius,  in  office  as  general  at  Athens,  gives  a 
dinner  to  the  young  men  who  had  distinguished 
themselves  at  a  trial  of  skill  in  grammar,  rhetoric, 
geometry,  and  poetry ;  and  anecdotes  are  told  on 
the  occasion  of  verses  aptly  or  inaptly  quoted. 

Of  the  other  minor  works,  some  look  a  good 
deal  like  lectures  delivered  at  Rome,  and  after- 
wards published  with  little  dedications  prefixed. 
We  have  a  disquisition  on  the  Advantages  we 
can  derive  from  our  Enemies,  addressed  to  Cor- 
nelius Pulcher,  a  discourse  On  Fate,  to  Piso,  and 
On  Brotherly  Afiection,  to  Nigrinus  and  Quintus. 
Many,  however,  are  dialogues  and  conversations, 
with  a  good  deal  of  the  same  varied  scenery 
and  exuberant  detail  which  embellish  the  Table- 
Talk. 

In  a  conversation  which  he  had  been  present 
at,  "  long  ago,  when  Nero  was  staying  in  Greece," 
between  Ammonius  and  some  other  friends,  the 
meaning  of  the  strange  inscription  at  Delphi,  the 
two  letters  EI,  is  debated.  A  visitor  is  con- 
ducted by  some  of  Plutarch's  friends  over  the 
sacred  buildings  at  Delphi,  and  in  the  intervals 
between  the  somewhat  tedious  speeches  of  the 
professional   guides,  who   showed    the    sights,  a 


PREFACE.  XXV 

discussion  takes  place  on  the  Nature  of  the 
Oracles.  *'  It  happened  a  little  before  the  Pyth- 
ian games  in  the  time  of  Callistratus,  there  met 
us  at  Delphi  two  travellers,  from  the  extremities 
of  the  world,  Demetrius  the  grammarian,  on  his 
way  home  to  Tarsus  from  Britain,  and  Cleom- 
brotus  the  Lacedaemonian,  just  returned  from 
a  journey  he  had  made  for  his  pleasure  and 
instruction  in  Upper  Egypt,  and  far  out  into  the 
Erythraean  Sea."  The  question  somehow  or 
other  occurs ;  and  the  dialogue.  Of  the  Cessation 
of  Oracles,  ensues,  one  passage  of  which  is  the 
famous  story  of  the  voice  that  proclaimed  the 
death  of  the  great  Pan.  x^utobulus  is  talking 
with  Soclarus,  the  companion  of  his  son,  about 
an  encomium  which  they  had  heard  on  hunting ; 
the  best  praise  they  can  give  it  is,  that  it  diverts 
into  a  less  objectionable  course  the  passion  which 
finds  one  vent  in  seeing  the  contests  of  gladiators. 
Up  come  presently  a  large  party  of  young  men, 
lovers  of  hunting  and  fishing ;  and  the  question 
of  the  Superior  Sagacity  of  Land  or  of  Water 
Animals  is  formally  pleaded  by  two  selected 
orators.  Stories  are  told  of  elephants  ;  and  Aris- 
totimus,  the  advocate  of  the  land  animals,  relates 
a  sight  (of  the  dog  imitating  in  a  play  the  efiects 
of  poison)  which  he  himself,  he  says,  saw  in 
Rome,  and  which  was  so  perfectly  acted  as  to 
cause  emotion  in  the  spectators,  the  Emperor 
included,  —  the    aged    Vespasian    himself    being 


yTryi  PREFACE. 

present,  in  tbe  theatre  of  Marcellus.  It  reads 
very  much  as  if  Plutarch,  and  not  Aristotimus, 
had  been  the  eye-witness.* 

Autobulus  occurs  again  in  the  Dialogue  on 
Love.  At  the  request  of  his  friend  Flavianus, 
he  repeats  a  long  conversation,  attended  with 
curious  incidents,  in  which  his  father  had  taken 
part  on  Mount  Helicon,  "  once  long  ago,  before 
we  were  born,  when  he  brought  our  mother, 
after  the  dispute  and  variance  which  had  arisen 
between  their  parents,  that  she  might  offer  a 
sacrifice  to  Love  at  the  feast  held  at  Thespiae." 

The  variance  alluded  to  must  clearly  have 
been  a  fact.  And  in  general,  though  these 
playful  fictions  or  semi-fictions,  which  form  the 
machinery  of  the  dialogues,  are  not  indeed  to  be 
accepted  in  a  literal  way,  they  possess  an  authen- 
ticity which  we  cannot  venture  to  attribute  to 
the  professedly  historical  statements  about  their 
author   given  in  later  writers.     Suidas,  the  lexi- 

*  Something    also  of   a  per-  discovered  and  put   to    death, 

sonal     remembrance     of    Ves-  Two   sons  were  born   to  them 

pasian's     unrelentingly    severe  in  their   hiding-place,  "one  of 

temper     may    be     thought     to  whom,"    says    Plutarch,    "was 

appear  in  the  story,  related  in  here  with  us  in  Delphi  only  a 

the  Dialogue  on  Love,  of  the  little  while  ago,"  and  he  is  dis- 

Gaulish  rebel  Sabinus,  and  his  posed,  he  adds,  to  attribute  the 

wife    Eponina,    mentioned    by  subsequent    extinction    of    the 

Tacitus   in   his  Histories,  who  race  of  Vespasian  to  divine  dis- 

after  living  in  an  underground  pleasure  at  this   cruel  and  un- 

concealment  several  years,  were  feeling  act. 


PREFACE.  XXvii 

cographer,  repeats  a  mere  romance  when  he  tells 
us  that  Trajan  gave  him  the  dignity  of  consul, 
and  issued  orders  that  none  of  the  magistrates  in 
Illvria  should  do  any  thing  without  consult- 
ing him.  Syncellus,  the  Byzantine  historian, 
under  the  record  of  one  of  the  first  years  of 
Hadrian's  reign,  is  equally  or  even  more  extrav- 
agant, relating  that  Plutarch,  the  philosopher  of 
Chgeronea,  was  in  his  old  age  appointed  by  the 
Emperor  to  the  office  of  governor  of  Greece. 
Though  the  period  of  Trajan  and  the  Antonines 
was  the  golden  age  of  philosophers,  whose  brief 
persecution  under  Domitian  seems  to  have  won 
them  for  a  while  a  sort  of  spiritual  supremacy, 
similar  to  that  which,  after  Diocletian,  was 
wrested  from  them  by  the  ministers  of  the  new 
religion,  still  these  assertions  are  on  the  face  of 
them  entirely  incredible. 

There  is  a  letter,  indeed,  given  among  Plu- 
tarch's printed  works,  in  which  a  collection  of 
Sayings  of  Kings  and  Commanders  is  dedi- 
cated to  Trajan ;  and  though  much  doubt  is 
entertained,  it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  it 
is  Plutarch's  own  writing.  There  is  nothing 
remarkable  in  its  contents,  and  it  is  most  notice- 
able for  the  contrast  in  tone  which  it  presents 
to  another  letter,  undoubtedly  spurious,  first 
published  in  Latin  by  John  of  Salisbury,  which 
is  a  very  preceptorial  lecture  to  Trajan,  his  pupil, 
by  Plutarch,  his  supposed  former  teacher. 


xxviii  PREFACE. 

A  list  of  Plutarch's  works,  including  many  of 
which  nothing  remains,  is  also  given  by  Suidas, 
as  made  by  Lamprias,  Plutarch's  son ;  and  a 
little  prefatory  letter  to  a  friend,  whom  he  had 
known  in  Asia,  and  who  had  written  to  ask  for 
the  information,  is  prefixed  to  the  catalogue. 
The  catalogue  itself  may  be  correct  enough,  but 
the  name  of  Lamprias  occurs  nowhere  in  all 
Plutarch's  extant  works  as  that  of  one  of  his 
sons ;  and  it  cannot  but  be  suspected  that  this 
family  name  was  adopted,  and  this  letter  to  the 
nameless  friend  in  Asia  composed,  by  some  gram- 
marian long  after,  who  desired  to  give  interest  to 
an  ordinary  list  of  the  author's  extant  writings. 

In  reading  Plutarch,  the  following  points 
should  be  remembered.  He  is  a  moralist  rather 
than  a  historian.  His  interest  is  less  for  politics 
and  the  changes  of  empires,  and  much  more  for 
personal  character  and  individual  actions  and 
motives  to  action, — duty  performed  and  reward- 
ed ;  arrogance  chastised  ;  hasty  anger  corrected ; 
humanity,  fair  dealing,  and  generosity  triumphing 
in  the  visible,  or  relying  on  the  invisible  world. 
His  mind  in  his  biographic  memoirs  is  contin- 
ually running  on  the  Aristotelian  Ethics  and  the 
high  Platonic  theories,  which  formed  the  religion 
of  the  educated  population  of  his  time. 

The  time  itself  is  a  second  point ;  that  of 
Nerva,  Trajan,    and    Hadrian ;    the    commence- 


PREFACE.  xx'lX 

ment  of  the  best  and  happiest  age  of  the  great 
Roman  imperial  period.  The  social  system, 
spreading  over  all  the  coasts  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea,  of  which  Greece  and  Italy  were  the 
centres,  and  to  which  the  East  and  the  furthest 
known  West  were  brought  into  relation,  had 
then  reached  its  highest  mark  of  advance  and 
consummation.  The  laws  of  Rome  and  the 
philosophy  of  Greece  were  powerful  from  the 
Tigris  to  the  British  islands.  It  was  the  last 
great  era  of  Greek  and  Roman  literature.  Epic- 
tetus  was  teaching  in  Greek  the  virtues  which 
Marcus  Aurelius  was  to  illustrate  as  Emperor. 
Dio  Chrysostom  and  Arrian  were  recalling  the 
memory  of  the  most  famous  Attic  rhetoricians 
and  historians ;  and  while  Plutarch  wrote  in 
Chseronea,  Tacitus,  Pliny  the  Younger,  Martial, 
and  Juvenal  were  writing  at  Rome.  It  may  be 
said  too,  perhaps  not  untruly,  that  the  Latin,  the 
metropolitan  writers,  less  faithfully  represent  the 
general  spirit  and  character  of  the  time  than 
what  came  from  the  pen  of  a  simple  Boeotian 
provincial,  writing  in  a  more  universal  language, 
and  unwarped  by  the  strong  local  reminiscences 
of  the  old  home  of  the  Senate  and  the  Repub- 
lic. Tacitus  and  Juvenal  have  more,  perhaps, 
of  the  ''antique  Roman"  than  of  the  citizen  of 
the  great  Mediterranean  Empire.  The  evils  of 
the  imperial  government,  as  felt  in  the  capital 
city,  are  depicted  in  the  Roman  prose  and  verse 


XXX  PREFACE. 

more  vividly  and  more  vehemently  than  suits  a 
general  representation  of  the  state  of  the  im- 
perial world,  even  under  the  rule  of  Domitian 
himself. 

It  is,  at  any  rate,  the  serener  aspect  and  the 
better  era  that  the  life  and  writings  of  Plutarch 
reflect.  His  language  is  that  of  a  man  happy  in 
himself  and  in  what  is  around  him.  His  natural 
cheerfulness  is  undiminished,  his  easy  and  joyous 
simplicity  is  unimpaired,  his  satisfactions  are  not 
saddened  or  imbittered  by  any  overpowering 
recollections  of  years  passed  under  the  immediate 
present  terrors  of  imperial  wickedness.  Though 
he  also  could  remember  Nero,  and  had  been  a 
man  when  Domitian  was  an  emperor,  the  utmost 
we  can  say  is,  that  he  shows,  perhaps,  the  in- 
structed happiness  of  one  who  had  lived  into 
good  times  out  of  evil,  and  that  the  very  vigor 
of  his  content  proves  that  its  roots  were  fixed 
amongst  circumstances  not  too  indulgent  or 
favorable. 

Much  has  been  said  of  Plutarch's  inaccuracy; 
and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he  is  careless  about 
numbers,  and  occasionally  contradicts  his  own 
statements.  A  greater  fault,  perhaps,  is  his  pas- 
sion for  anecdote ;  he  cannot  forbear  from  repeat- 
ing stories,  the  improbability  of  which  he  is  the 
first  to  recognize ;  which,  nevertheless,  by  mere 
repetition,  leave  unjust  impressions.  He  is  unfair 
in   this   way  to    Demosthenes    and   to    Pericles, 


PREFACE.  XXxi 

against  the  latter  of  whom,  however,  he  doubt- 
less mherited  the  prejudices  which  Plato  handed 
down  to  the  philosophers. 

It  is  true,  also,  that  his  unhistorical  treatment 
of  the  subjects  of  his  biography  makes  him  often 
unsatisfactory  and  imperfect  in  the  portraits  he 
draws.  Much,  of  course,  in  the  public  lives  of 
statesmen  can  find  its  only  explanation  in  their 
political  position ;  and  of  tliis  Plutarch  often 
knows  and  thinks  little.  So  far  as  the  researches 
of  modern  historians  have  succeeded  in  really 
recovering  a  knowledge  of  relations  of  this  sort, 
so  far,  undoubtedly,  these  biographies  stand  in 
need  of  their  correction.  Yet  in  the  uncertainty 
which  must  attend  all  modern  restorations,  it  is 
agreeable,  and  surely  also  profitable,  to  recur  to 
portraits  drawn  ere  new  thoughts  and  views  had 
occupied  the  civilized  world,  without  reference  to 
such  disputable  grounds  of  judgment,  simply 
upon  the  broad  principles  of  the  ancient  moral 
code  of  right  and  wrong. 

Making  some  little  deductions  in  cases  such  as 
those  that  have  been  mentioned,  allowing  for  a 
little  over-love  of  story,  and  for  some  consider- 
able quasi-religious  hostility  to  the  democratic 
leaders  who  excited  the  scorn  of  Plato,  if  we  bear 
in  mind,  also,  that  in  narratives  like  that  of 
Theseus,  he  himself  confesses  his  inability  to  dis- 
engage fact  from  fable,  it  may  be  said  that  in 
Plutarch's  Lives  the  readers  of  all  ages  will  find 


XXxii  PREFACE. 

instructive  and  faithful  biographies  of  the  great 
men  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Or,  at  any  rate,  if  in 
Plutarch's  time  it  was  too  late  to  think  of  really 
faithful  biographies,  we  have  here  the  faithful 
record  of  the  historical  tradition  of  his  age.  This 
is  what,  in  the  second  century  of  our  era,  Greeks 
and  Eomans  loved  to  believe  about  their  warriors 
and  statesmen  of  the  past.  As  a  picture,  at 
least,  of  the  best  Greek  and  Roman  moral  views 
and  moral  judgments,  as  a  presentation  of  the 
results  of  Greek  and  Roman  moral  thought,  de- 
livered not  under  the  pressure  of  calamity,  but 
as  they  existed  in  ordinary  times,  and  actuated 
plain-living  people  in  country  places  in  their 
daily  life,  Plutarch's  writings  are  of  indisputable 
value ;  and  it  may  be  said,  also,  that  Plutarch's 
character,  as  depicted  in  them,  possesses  a 
natural  charm  of  pleasantness  and  amiability 
which  it  is  not  easy  to  match  among  all  extant 
classical  authors. 

The  present  translation  is  a  revision  of  that 
published  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
with  a  life  of  Plutarch  written  by  Dryden,  whose 
name,  it  was  presumed,  would  throw  some  re- 
flected lustre  on  the  humbler  workmen  who 
performed,  better  or  worse,  the  more  serious 
labor.  There  is,  of  course,  a  great  inequality  in 
their  work.  But  the  translation  by  Langhorne, 
for  which,  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  the 


PREFACE.  XXxiii 

older  voluines  were  discarded,  is  so  inferior  in 
liveliness,  and  is  in  fact  so  dull  and  heavy  a 
book,  tliat  in  default  of  an  entirely  new  transla- 
tion, some  advantage,  it  is  hoped,  may  be  gained 
by  the  revival  here  attempted.  It  would  not 
have  been  needed,  had  Mr.  Long  not  limited  the 
series  which  he  published,  with  very  useful  notes, 
in  Mr.  Knight's  Shilling  Library,  to  the  lives  con- 
nected with  the  Civil  Wars  of  Eome. 

Dry  den's  Life  of  Plutarch  is,  like  many  of 
Dryden's  writings,  hasty  yet  well  written,  inac- 
curate but  agreeable  to  read ;  that  by  Dacier, 
printed  in  the  last  volume  of  his  French  trans- 
lation, is  in  many  respects  very  good.  The 
materials  for  both  were  collected,  and  the  refer- 
ences accumulated,  by  E-ualdus,  in  his  laborious 
Life  appended  to  the  old  Paris  folios  of  1624. 
But  every  thing  that  is  of  any  value  is  given  in 
the  articles  in  Fabricius's  Bibliotheca  Grgeca,  and 
with  the  most  recent  additions,  in  Pauly's  Ger- 
man Cyclopaedia.  Much  that  is  useful  is  found, 
as  might  be  expected,  in  Clinton's  Fasti  Eomani, 
from  which  the  following  table  is  taken  :  — 

Date.  Occurrences.  Authors. 

A.D. 

41  .  .  Accession  of  Claudius. 
54  .  .  Accession  of  Nero. 

66  .  .  Nero  comes  into  Greece  ;  alluded  to  in  ' 

Plutarch's  Dialogue   on   the  EI  at 

Delphi.  Seneca. 

67  .  .  Nero  celebrates  the  Isthmian  Games ;  |  Lucan. 

alluded  to  in  Plutarch's  life  of  Fla-      Persius. 
mininus. 


XXXIV 


PREFACE. 


Date. 

A.D. 

68. 
69. 
70. 

74. 

79. 


81, 
90, 

96 

98 

100 

103 

104 
106 


113 

114 


117, 

138 
161 
181 


Occurrences. 

Galba  is  Emperor.     Civil  wars. 

Vitellius,  Otho,  Vespasian. 

Taking  of  Jerusalem. 

The  Philosophers  are  expelled  from  "" 
Rome. 

Death  of  Sabinus,  the  Gaul. 

Death  of  Vespasian,  and  accession  of 
Titus. 

Eruption  of  Vesuvius  ;  alluded  to  by 
Plutarch,  as  a  recent  occurrence,  in 
his  Enquiry  why  the  Pythian  Oracles 
are  no  longer  delivered  in  verse. 
,  Accession  of  Domitian. 

.  The  Philosophers  are  again  expelled 
from  Rome,  after  the  death  of  Rusticus. 

.  Accession  of  Nerva.  ^ 

.  Accession  of  Trajan. 

.  Pliny's  Panegyric. 

.  Epictetus  is  teaching  at  Nicopolis,  Ar- 
rian  attending  him. 

.  Pliny  in  Bithj^nia. 

.  Trajan  winters  on  the  Danube ;  alluded 
to  by  Plutarch,  On  the  Principle  of 
Cold. 

.  Erection  of  Trajan's  Column. 

.  Trajan's  Parthian  Victories.  Plutarch 
had  written  his  life  of  Antony  before 
these. 

.  Accession  of  Hadrian. 
In  Hadrian's  third  year,  Plutarch,  ac- 
cording to  Eusebius,  was  still  alive,   j 

.  Accession  of  Antoninus. 


Authors. 


.  Accession  of  Marcus  Aurelius.  y 

.  Accession  of  Commodus. 
Note.  —  The  authors  ivhose  names  are  printed  in  Italics 


Death  of  Pliny  the 
Elder. 


Quintilian. 
Statins. 
Silius  Italicus. 
Martial. 

Dio  Chrysostom. 
Tacitus,  born  about 

A.D.  60. 
Plutarch. 
Epictetus. 
Arrian. 
Pliny  the  Younger, 

born  A.D.  61. 
Juvenal,  born  a.d. 

59. 
Favorinus. 
Suetonius,       born 

about  A.D.  70. 


Ptolemy. 
Appian. 
Patisanias. 
Galen. 
Ziucian. 
Athencetis. 
Dion  Gassius. 
are  Greek  writers. 


PREFACE. 


XXXV 


The  fault  which  runs  throuo-h  all  the  earlier 
biographies,  from  that  of  Rualdus  downward,  is 
the  assumption,  wholly  untenable,  that  Plutarch 
passed  many  years,  as  many  perhaps  as  forty, 
at  Rome.  The  entire  character  of  his  life  is  of 
course  altered  by  such  an  impression.  It  is, 
therefore,  not  worth  while  reprinting  here  the 
life  originally  prefixed  by  Dryden  to  the  transla- 
tions which,  with  more  or  less  of  alteration,  follow 
in  the  present  volumes.  One  or  two  character- 
istic extracts  may  be  sufficient.  The  first  may 
throw  some  light  on  a  subject  which  to  modern 
readers  is  a  little  obscure.  Dryden  is  wrong  in 
one  or  two  less  important  points,  but  his  general 
view  of  the  dcemonic  belief  which  pervades  Plu- 
tarch's writings  is  tolerably  to  the  purpose. 

"  We  can  only  trace  the  rest  of  his  opinions 
from  his  philosophy,  which  we  have  said  in  the 
general  to  be  Platonic,  though  it  cannot  also  be 
denied  that  there  was  a  tincture  in  it  of  the 
Electic  *  sect,  which  was  bep-un  bv  Potamon 
under  the  empire  of  Augustus,  and  which  se- 
lected from  all  the  other  sects  what  seemed  most 
probable  in  their  opinions,  not  adhering  singu- 
larly to  any  of  them,  nor  rejecting  every  thing. 
I  will  only  touch  his  belief  of  spirits.  In  his 
two  Treatises  of  Oracles,  the  one  concerning  the 
Reason  of  their  Cessation,  the  other  inquiring 
why  they  were  not  given  in  verse  as  in  former 

*  He  means  the  Eclectic,  as  it  is  more  usually  called. 


XXXvi  PREFACE. 

times,  he  seems  to  assert  tlie  Pythagorean  doc- 
trine of  transmigration  of  souls.  We  have  for- 
merly shown  that  he  owned  the  unity  of  a 
Godhead,  whom,  according  to  his  attributes,  he 
calls  by  several  names,  —  as  Jupiter  from  his 
almighty  power,  Apollo  from  his  wisdom,  and 
so  of  the  rest;  but  under  him  he  places  those 
beings  whom  he  styles  Genii  or  Dcemons,  of  a 
middle  nature,  between  divine  and  human,  for 
he  thinks  it  absurd  that  there  should  be  no  mean 
between  the  two  extremes  of  an  immortal  and  a 
mortal  being,  —  that  there  cannot  be  in  nature 
so  vast  a  flaw,  without  some  intermedial  kind  of 
life,  partaking  of  them  both.  As,  therefore,  we 
find  the  intercourse  between  the  soul  and  body 
to  be  made  by  the  animal  spirits,  so  between 
divinity  and  humanity  there  is  this  species  of 
daemons.  Who  *  having  first  been  men,  and 
followed  the  strict  rules  of  virtue,  have  purged 
off  the  grossness  and  feculency  of  their  earthly 
being,  are  exalted  into  these  genii ;  and  are  from 
thence  either  raised  higher  into  an  ethereal  life, 
if  they  still  continue  virtuous,  or  tumbled  down 
again  into  mortal  bodies,  and  sinking  into  flesh 
after  they  have  lost  that  purity  which  constituted 
their  glorious  being.  And  this  sort  of  Genii  are 
those  who,  as  our  author  imagines,  presided  over 
oracles ;    spirits    which   have    so    much    of  their 

*  He  means,  I  believe,  Those     should  be   omitted   in   line  29, 
who  ;  apparently  the  word  and      before  sinking  into  flesh. 


PREFACE.  XXXvii 

terrestrial  principles  remaining  in  them  as  to 
be  subject  to  passions  and  inclinations,  —  usually 
beneficent,  sometimes  malevolent  to  mankind, 
accordino'  as  thev  refine  themselves,  or  wither 
dross  and  are  declining  into  mortal  bodies.  Tlie 
cessation,  or  rather  the  decrease  of  oracles  —  for 
some  of  them  were  still  remaining  in  Plutarch's 
time  —  he  attributes  either  to  the  death  of  those 
daemons,  as  appears  by  the  story  of  the  Egyptian 
Thamus,  who  was  commanded  to  declare  that 
the  great  god  Pan  was  dead,  or  to  their  forsak- 
ing of  those  places  where  they  formerly  gave  out 
their  oracles,  from  whence  they  were  driven  by 
stronger  Genii  into  banishment  for  a  certain  rev- 
olution of  ages.  Of  this  last  nature  were  the 
war  of  the  giants  against  the  gods,  the  dispos- 
session of  Saturn  by  Jupiter,  the  banishment 
of  Apollo  from  heaven,  the  fall  of  Vulcan,  and 
many  others ;  all  which,  according  to  our  au- 
thor, were  the  battles  of  these  Genii  or  Daemons 
among  themselves.  But  supposing,  as  Plutarch 
evidently  does,  that  these  spirits  administered, 
under  the  Supreme  Being,  the  afiairs  of  men, 
taking  care  of  the  virtuous,  punishing  the  bad, 
and  sometimes  communicating  with  the  best, — 
as  particularly,  the  Genius  of  Socrates  always 
warned  him  of  approaching  dangers,  and  taught 
him  to  avoid  them,  —  I  cannot  but  wonder  that 
every  one  who  has  hitherto  written  Plutarch's 
life,  and  particularly  Kualdus,  the  most  knowing 


xxxviii  PREFACE. 

of  them  all,  should  so  confidently  affirm  that 
these  oracles  were  given  by  bad  spirits,  accord- 
ing to  Plutarch.  As  Christians,  indeed,  we  may 
think  them  so ;  but  that  Plutarch  so  thought  is 
a  most  apparent  falsehood.  'T  is  enough  to  con- 
vince a  reasonable  man,  that  our  author  in  his 
old  age  (and  that  then  he  doted  not,  we  may  see 
by  the  treatise  he  has  written,  that  old  men 
ought  to  have  the  management  of  public  affairs), 
I  say  that  then  he  initiated  himself  in  the  sacred 
rites  of  Delphos,  and  died,  for  ought  we  know, 
Apollo's  priest.  Now  it  is  not  to  be  imagined 
that  he  thought  the  God  he  served  a  Gacodce- 
mon,  or  as  we  call  him,  a  devil.  Nothing  could 
be  further  from  the  opinion  and  practice  of  this 
holy  philosopher  than  so  gross  an  impiety.  The 
story  of  the  Pythias,  or  priestess  of  Apollo,  which 
he  relates  immediately  before  the  ending  of  that 
treatise,  concerning  the  Cessation  of  Oracles,  con- 
firms my  assertion  rather  than  shakes  it;  for  'tis 
there  delivered,  '  That  going  with  great  reluc- 
tation  into  the  sacred  place  to  be  inspired,  she 
came  out  foaming  at  the  mouth,  her  eyes  gog- 
gling, her  breast  heaving,  her  voice  undistinguish- 
able  and  shrill,  as  if  she  had  an  earthquake 
within  her  laboring  for  vent ;  and  in  short,  that 
thus  tormented  with  the  god  whom  she  was  not 
able  to  support,  she  died  distracted  in  a  few  days 
after.  For  he  had  said  before  that  the  divineress 
ought  to  have  no  perturbations  of  mind  or  im- 


PREFACE.  XXxix 

pure  passions  at  the  time  when  she  was  to  con- 
sult the  oracle ;  and  if  she  had,  she  was  no  more 
fit  to  be  inspired  than  an  instrument  untuned  to 
render  an  harmonious  sound.'  And  he  gives 
us  to  suspect,  by  what  he  says  at  the  close  of 
this  relation,  '  That  this  Pythias  had  not  lived 
chastely  for  some  time  before  it ;  so  that  her 
death  appears  more  like  a  punishment  inflicted 
for  loose  living,  by  some  holy  Power,  than  the 
mere  malignancy  of  a  spirit  delighted  naturally 
in  mischief.'  There  is  another  observation  which 
indeed  comes  nearer  to  their  purpose,  which  I 
will  digress  so  far  as  to  relate,  because  it  some- 
what appertains  to  our  own  country.  '  There 
are  many  islands,'  says  he,  'which  lie  scattering 
about  Britain,  after  the  manner  of  our  Sporades; 
they  are  unpeopled,  and  some  of  them  are  called 
the  Islands  of  the  Heroes,  or  the  Genii.'  One 
Demetrius  was  sent  by  the  Emperor  (who  by 
computation  of  the  time  must  either  be  Caligula 
or  Claudius  *)  to  discover  those  parts,  and  arriv- 
ing at  one  of  the  islands  next  adjoining  to  the 
before  mentioned,  which  was  inhabited  by  some 
few  Britons  (but  those  held  sacred  and  invio- 
lable by  all  their  countrymen),  immediately  after 
his  arrival,  the  air  grew  black  and  troubled, — 
strange  apparitions  were  seen,  the  winds  raised 
a  tempest,  and  fiery  spouts  or  whirlwinds  ap- 
peared dancing  toward  the  earth.     When  these 

*  Undoubtedly  much  later. 


xl  PPEFACE. 

prodigies  were  ceased,  the  islanders  informed  him 
that  some  one  of  the  aerial  beings,  superior  to 
our  nature,  then  ceased  to  live.  For  as  a  taper, 
while  yet  burning,  affords  a  pleasant,  harmless 
light,  but  is  noisome  and  offensive  when  extin- 
guished, so  those  heroes  shine  benignly  on  us 
and  do  us  good,  but  at  their  death  turn  all  things 
topsy-turvy,  raise  up  tempests,  and  infect  the  air 
with  pestilential  vapors.  By  those  holy  and  in- 
violable men,  there  is  no  question  but  he  means 
our  Druids,  who  were  nearest  to  the  Pythago- 
reans of  any  sect;  and  this  opinion  of  the  Genii 
might  probably  be  one  of  theirs.  Yet  it  proves 
not  that  all  daemons  were  thus  malicious,  only 
those  who  were  to  be  condemned  hereafter  into 
human  bodies,  for  their  misdemeanors  in  their 
aerial  being.  But  'tis  time  to  leave  a  subject  so 
very  fanciful  and  so  little  reasonable  as  this.  I 
am  apt  to  imagine  the  natural  vapors,  arising  in 
the  cave  where  the  temple  afterwards  was  built, 
might  work  upon  the  spirits  of  those  who  entered 
the  holy  place,  —  as  they  did  on  the  shepherd 
Coretas,  who  first  found  it  out  by  accident,  —  and 
incline  them  to  enthusiasm  and  prophetic  mad- 
ness ;  that  as  the  strength  of  those  vapors  dimin- 
ished (which  were  generally  in  caverns,  as  that 
of  Mopsus,  of  Trophonius,  and  this  of  Delphos), 
so  the  inspiration  decreased  by  the  same  meas- 
ures;  that  they  happened  to  be  stronger  when 
they  killed  the  Pythias,  who  being  conscious  of 


PREFACE.  Xli 

this,  was  so  unwilling  to  enter ;  that  the  oracles 
ceased  to  be  given  in  verse  when  poets  ceased  to 
be  the  priests,  and  that  the  Genius  of  Socrates 
(whom  he  confessed  never  to  have  seen,  but 
only  to  have  heard  inwardly,  and  unperceived  by 
others),  was  no  more  than  the  strength  of  his 
imagination ;  or  to  speak  in  the  language  of  a 
Christian  Platonist,  his  guardian  angel." 

The  concluding  passage  of  the  life  may  serve 
as  a  conclusion  to  this  prefatory  essay.  It  is  as 
follows :  "  And  now,  with  the  usual  vanity  of 
Dutch  prefacers,  I  could  load  our  author  with 
the  praises  and  commemorations  of  writers ;  for 
both  ancient  and  modern  have  made  honorable 
mention  of  him.  But  to  cumber  pages  with  this 
kind  of  stuff  were  to  raise  a  distrust  in  common 
readers  that  Plutarch  wants  them.  Rualdus,  in- 
deed, has  collected  ample  testimonies  of  them ; 
but  I  will  only  recite  the  names  of  some,  and 
refer  you  to  him  for  the  particular  quotations. 
He  reckons  Gellius,  Eusebius,  Himerius  the  Soph- 
ister,  Eunapius,  Cyrillus  of  Alexandria,  Theo- 
doret,  Agathias,  Photius  and  Xiphilin,  patriarchs 
of  Constantinople,  Johannes  Sarisberiensis,  the 
famous  Petrarch,  Petrus  Yictorius,  and  Justus 
Lipsius. 

"But  Theodoras  Gaza,  a  man  learned  in  the 
Latin  tongue  and  a  great  restorer  of  the  Greek, 
who  lived  above  two  hundred  years  ago,  deserves 
to  have  his  suffrage  set  down  in  words  at  length ; 


xlii  PREFACE. 

for  the  rest  have  only  commended  Plutarch  more 
than  any  smgle  author,  but  he  has  extolled  him 
above  all  together. 

"  'T  is  said  that,  having  this  extravagant  ques- 
tion put  to  him  by  a  friend :  that  if  learning  must 
suffer  a  general  shipwreck,  and  he  had  only  his 
choice  left  him  of  preserving  one  author,  who 
should  be  the  man  he  would  preserve  ?  he  an- 
swered, Plutarch ;  and  probably  might  give  this 
reason :  that  in  saving  him,  he  should  secure  the 
best  collection  of  them  all. 

"  The  epigram  of  Agathias  deserves  also  to  be 
remembered.  This  author  flourished  about  the 
year  ^ve  hundred,  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor 
Justinian.  The  verses  are  extant  in  the  Antho- 
logia,  and  with  the  translation  of  them  I  will 
conclude  the  praises  of  our  author ;  having  first 
admonished  you,  that  they  are  supposed  to  be 
written  on  a  statue  erected  by  the  Romans  to 
his  memory. 

"Chseronean  Plutarch,  to  thy  deathless  praise 
Does  martial  Eome  this  grateful  statue  raise, 
Because  both  Greece  and  she  thy  fame  have  shared, 
(Their  heroes  written  and  their  lives  compared). 
But  thou  thyself  couldst  never  write  thy  own; 
Their  lives  have  parallels,  but  thine  has  none." 

A.  H.  CLOUGH. 


PLUTARCH'S    LIVES. 


THESEUS. 


As  geographers,  Sosius,*  crowd  into  the  edges  of  their 
maps  parts  of  the  world  which  they  do  not  know  about, 
adding  notes  in  the  margin  to  the  effect,  that  beyond  this 
lies  nothing  but  sandy  deserts  full  of  wild  beasts,  unap- 
proachable bogs,  Scythian  ice,  or  a  frozen  sea,  so,  in  this 
work  of  mine,  in  which  I  have  compared  the  lives  of  the 
greatest  men  with  one  another,  after  passing  through 
those  periods  which  probable  reasoning  can  reach  to  and 
real  history  find  a  footing  in,  I  might  very  well  say  of 
those  that  are  farther  off.  Beyond  this  there  is  nothing  but 
prodigies  and  fictions,  the  only  inhabitants  are  the  poets 
and  inventors  of  fables ;  there  is  no  credit,  or  certainty 
any  farther.  Yet,  after  publishing  an  account  of  Lycur- 
gus  the  lawgiver  and  Numa  the  king,  I  thought  I  might, 
not  without  reason,  ascend  as  high  as  to  Romulus,  being 
brought  by  my  history  so  near  to  his  time.  Considering 
therefore  with  myself 

Whom  shall  I  set  so  great  a  man  to  face  ? 
Or  whom  oppose  ?  who 's  equal  to  the  place  ? 

(as  iEschylus  expresses  it),  I  found  none  so  fit  as  him  that 
peopled  the  beautiful  and  far-famed  city  of  Athens,  to  be 

*  Sosius  Senecio,  Plutarch's  friend  at  Rome,  whom  he  addresses. 
VOL.  I.  1 


2  THESEUS. 

set  in  opposition  with  the  father  of  the  invincible  and 
renowned  city  of  Rome.  Let  us  hope  that  Fable  may,  in 
what  shall  follow,  so  submit  to  the  purifying  processes  of 
Eeason  as  to  take  the  character  of  exact  history.  In  any 
case,  however,  where  it  shall  be  found  contumaciously 
slighting  credibility,  and  refusing  to  be  reduced  to  any 
thing  like  probable  fact,  we  shall  beg  that  we  may  meet 
with  candid  readers,  and  such  as  will  receive  with  indul- 
gence the  stories  of  antiquity. 

Theseus  seemed  to  me  to  resemble  Romulus  in  many 
particulars.  Both  of  them,  born  out  of  wedlock  and  of 
uncertain  parentage,  had  the  repute  of  being  sprung  from 
the  gods. 

Both  warriors ;  that  by  all  the  world's  allowed. 

Both  of  them  united  with  strength  of  body  an  equal  vigor 
of  mind ;  and  of  the  two  most  famous  cities  of  the  world, 
the  one  built  Rome,  and  the  other  made  Athens  be  in- 
habited. Both  stand  charged  with  the  rape  of  women ; 
neither  of  them  could  avoid  domestic  misfortunes  nor 
jealousy  at  home ;  but  towards  the  close  of  their  lives  are 
both  of  them  said  to  have  incurred  great  odium  with  their 
countrymen,  if,  that  is,  we  may  take  the  stories  least  like 
poetry  as  our  guide  to  the  truth. 

The  lineage  of  Theseus,  by  his  father's  side,  ascends  as 
high  as  to  Erechtheus  and  the  first  inhabitants  of  Attica. 
By  his  mother's  side  he  was  descended  of  Pelops.  For 
Pelops  was  the  most  powerful  of  all  the  kings  of  Pelo- 
ponnesus, not  so  much  by  the  greatness  of  his  riches  as 
the  multitude  of  his  children,  having  married  many 
daughters  to  chief  men,  and  put  many  sons  in  places  of 
command  in  the  towns  round  about  him.  One  of  whom, 
named  Pittheus,  grandfather  to  Theseus,  was  governor 
of  the  small  city  of  the  Trcezenians,  and  had  the  repute 
of  a  man  of  the  greatest  knowledge  and  wisdom  of  his 


THESEUS.  3 

time;  which  then,  it  seems,  consisted  chiefly  in  grave 
maxims,  such  as  the  poet  Hesiod  got  his  great  fame  by, 
in  his  book  of  Works  and  Days.  And,  indeed,  among 
these  is  one  that  they  ascribe  to  Pittheus, — 

Unto  a  friend  suffice 
A  stipulated  price ;  * 

which,  also,  Aristotle  mentions.  And  Euripides,  by  call- 
ing Hippolytus  "  scholar  of  the  holy  Pittheus,"  shows  the 
opinion  that  the  world  had  of  him. 

JEgeus,  being  desirous  of  children,  and  consulting  the 
oracle  of  Delphi,  received  the  celebrated  answer  which 
forbade  him  the  company  of  any  woman  before  his  return 
to  Athens.  But  the  oracle  being  so  obscure  as  not  to 
satisfy  him  that  he  was  clearly  forbid  this,  he  went  to 
Troezen,  and  communicated  to  Pittheus  the  voice  of  the 
god,  which  was  in  this  manner,  — 

Loose  not  the  wine-skin  foot,  thou  chief  of  men, 
Until  to  Athens  thou  art  come  again. 

Pittheus,  therefore,  taking  advantage  from  the  obscurity 
of  the  oracle,  prevailed  upon  him,  it  is  uncertain  whether 
by  persuasion  or  deceit,  to  lie  with  his  daughter  ^Ethra. 
-Egeus  afterwards,  knowing  her  whom  he  had  lain 
with  to  be  Pittheus's  daughter,  and  suspecting  her  to 
be  with  child  by  him,  left  a  sword  and  a  pair  of  shoes, 
hiding  them  under  a  great  stone  that  had  a  hollow  in  it 
exactly  fitting  them ;  and  went  away  making  her  only 

*  In  the  Works  and  Days  tliis  claim,   in  justice,   more   than   the 

proverb,  as  it  now  stands,  certainly  sum    that    liad   been   first   agreed 

means,  "Stipulate  your  price  before-  upon.       Before    Hesiod,   however, 

hand  with  your  friend."     "  Even,"  and   perhaps  originally  in  Hesiod. 

adds  the  following  hne,  "  in  a  bar-  it  may  have  simply  been  an  injunc- 

gain  with  your  brother,  laugh,  and  tion   to  pay  a  friend  fairly   and 

call  in  a  witness."    Aristotle  under-  fully  the  price  that   at   first   was 

stood   it   to   say,  that  no  one  can  appointed. 


4  THESEUS. 

privy  to  it,  and  commanding  her,  if  she  brought  forth  a 
son  who,  M'hen  he  came  to  man's  estate,  should  be  able  to 
lift  up  the  stone  and  take  away  what  he  had  left  there, 
she  should  send  him  away  to  him  with  those  things  with 
all  secrecy,  and  with  injunctions  to  him  as  much  as  possi- 
ble to  conceal  his  journey  from  every  one  ;  for  he  greatly 
feared  the  PallantidoB,  who  were  continually  mutinying 
against  him,  and  despised  him  for  his  want  of  children, 
they  themselves  being  fifty  brothers,  all  sons  of  Pallas  * 

When  ^Ethra  was  delivered  of  a  son,  some  say  that 
he  was  immediately  named  Theseus,  from  the  tokens 
which  his  father  had  put-f  under  the  stone ;  others  that 
he  received  his  name  afterwards  at  Athens,  when  ^geus 
acknowiedffed-f  hhn  for  his  son.  He  was  brought  up  under 
his  grandfather  Pittheus,  and  had  a  tutor  and  attendant 
set  over  him  named  Connidas,  to  whom  the  Athenians, 
even  to  this  time,  the  day  before  the  feast  that  is  dedi- 
cated to  Theseus,  sacrifice  a  ram  giving  this  honor  to  his 
memory  upon  much  juster  grounds  than  to  Silanio  and 
Parrhasius,  for  making  pictures  and  statues  of  Theseus. 
There  being  then  a  custom  for  the  Grecian  youth,  upon 
their  first  coming  to  man's  estate,  to  go  to  Delphi  and 
offer  first-fruits  of  their  hair  to  the  god,  Theseus  also 
went  thither,  and  a  place  there  to  this  day  is  yet  named 
Thesea,  as  it  is  said,  from  him.  He  clipped  only  the  fore 
part  of  his  head,  as  Homer  says  the  Abantes  did.J  And 
this  sort  of  tonsure  was  from  him  named  Theseis.  The 
Abantes  first  used  it,  not  in  imitation  of  the  Arabians, 
as  some  imagine,  nor  of  the  Mysians,  but  because  they 
were  a  warlike  people,  and  used  to  close  fighting,  and 
above  all  other  nations  accustomed  to  engage  hand  to 
hand ;  as  Archilochus  testifies  in  these  verses :  — 

*  Brother  to  -^geus.  take   to   oneself,   to   adopt  or   ao- 

t  Thesis,  putting ;   Thesthai,  to     knowledge,  as  a  son. 

i  The  Euboeans  of  the  Iliad. 


THESEUS.  5 

Slings  shall  not  whirl,  nor  many  arrows  fly, 

When  on  the  plain  the  battle  joins  ;  but  swords, 

Man  against  man,  the  deadly  conflict  try, 
As  is  the  practice  of  Euboea's  lords 

Skilled  with  the  spear. 

Therefore  that  they  might  not  give  their  enemies  a 
hold  by  their  hair,  they  cut  it  in  this  manner.  They 
write  also  that  this  was  the  reason  why  Alexander  gave 
command  to  his  captains  that  all  the  beards  of  the  Mace- 
donians should  be  shaved,  as  being  the  readiest  hold  for 
an  enemy. 

iEthra  for  some  time  concealed  the  true  parentage  of 
Theseus,  and  a  report  was  given  out  by  Pittheus  that  he 
was  begotten  by  Neptune  ;  for  the  Troezenians  pay  Nep- 
tune tte  highest  veneration.  He  is  their  tutelar  god,  to 
him  they  ofler  all  their  first-fruits,  and  in  his  honor  stamp 
their  money  with  a  trident. 

Theseus  displaying  not  only  great  strength  of  body, 
but  equal  bravery,  and  a  quickness  alike  and  force  of  un- 
derstanding, his  mother  ^thra,  conducting  him  to  the 
stone,  and  informing  him  who  was  his  true  father,  com- 
manded him  to  take  from  thence  the  tokens  that  ^geus 
had  left,  and  to  sail  to  Athens.  He  without  any  difficulty 
set  himself  to  the  stone  and  lifted  it  up  ;  but  refused  to 
take  his  journey  by  sea,  though  it  was  much  the  safer 
way,  and  though  his  mother  and  grandfather  begged  him 
to  do  so.  For  it  was  at  that  time  very  dangerous  to  go 
by  land  on  the  road  to  Athens,  no  part  of  it  being  free 
from  robbers  and  murderers.  That  age  produced  a  sort  of 
men,  in  force  of  hand,  and  swiftness  of  foot,  and  strength 
of  body,  excelling  the  ordinary  rate,  and  wholly  incapable 
of  fatigue ;  making  use,  however,  of  these  gifts  of  nature 
to  no  good  or  profitable  purpose  for  mankind,  but  rejoi- 
cing and  priding  themselves  in  insolence,  and  taking  the 
benefit  of  their  superior  strength  in  the  exercise  of  inhu- 


6  THESEUS. 

manity  and  cruelty,  and  in  seizing,  forcing,  and  commit- 
ting all  manner  of  outrages  upon  every  thing  that  fell  into 
their  hands;  all  respect  for  others,  all  justice,  they  thourht, 
all  equity  and  humanity,  though  naturally  lauded 
common  people,  either  out  of  want  of  courage  to  commit 
injuries  or  fear  to  receive  them,  yet  no  way  concerned 
those  who  were  strong  enough  to  win  for  themselves. 
Some  of  these,  Hercules  destroyed  and  cut  off  in  his  pas- 
sage through  these  countries,  but  some,  escaping  his  notice 
while  he  was  passing  by,  fled  and  hid  themselves,  or  else 
were  spared  by  him  in  contempt  of  their  abject  submis- 
sion ;  and  after  that  Hercules  fell  into  misfortune,  and 
having  slain  Iphitus,  retired  to  Lydia,  and  for  a  long  time 
was  there  slave  to  Omphale,  a  punishment  which  he  had 
imposed  upon  himself  for  the  murder,  then,  indeed, 
Lydia  enjoyed  high  peace  and  security,  but  in  Greece 
and  the  countries  about  it  the  like  villanies  again  re- 
vived and  broke  out,  there  being  none  to  repress  or  chas- 
tise them.  It  was  therefore  a  very  hazardous  journey  to 
travel  by  land  from  Athens  to  Peloponnesus;  and  Pit- 
theus,  giving  him  an  exact  account  of  each  of  these  rob- 
bers and  villains,  their  strength,  and  the  cruelty  they  used 
to  all  strangers,  tried  to  persuade  Theseus  to  go  by  sea. 
But  he,  it  seems,  had  long  since  been  secretly  fired  by 
the  glory  of  Hercules,  held  him  in  the  highest  estima- 
tion, and  was  never  more  satisfied  than  in  listening  to  any 
that  gave  an  account  of  him ;  especially  those  that  had 
seen  him,  or  had  been  present  at  any  action  or  saying  of 
his.  So  that  he  was  altogether  in  the  same  state  of  feel- 
ing as,  in  after  ages,  Themistocles  was,  when  he  said  that 
he  could  not  sleep  for  the  trophy  of  Miltiades ;  enter- 
taining such  admiration  for  the  virtue  of  Hercules,  that  in 
the  night  his  dreams  were  all  of  that  hero's  actions,  and  in 
the  day  a  continual  emulation  stirred  him  up  to  perform 


THESEUS.  7 

the  like.  Besides,  they  were  related,  being  born  of  cousins 
german.  For  ^tlira  was  daughter  of  Pittheus,  and  Alcnie- 
np  of  Lysidice ;  and  Lysidice  and  Pittheus  were  brother  and 

ucr,  children  of  Hippodainia  and  Pelops.  He  thought  it 
therefore  a  dishonorable  thing,  and  not  to  be  endured,  that 
Hercules  should  go  out  everywhere,  and  purge  both  land 
and  sea  from  wicked  men,  and  he  himself  should  fly  from 
the  like  adventures  that  actually  came  in  his  way ;  dis- 
gracing his  reputed  father  by  a  mean  flight  by  sea,  and 
not  showing  his  true  one  as  good  evidence  of  the  great- 
ness of  his  birth  by  noble  and  worthy  actions,  as  by  the 
tokens  that  he  brought  with  him,  the  shoes  and  the  sword. 

With  this  mind  and  these  thoughts,  he  set  forward  with 
a  design  to  do  injury  to  nobody,  but  to  repel  and  revenge 
himself  of  all  those  that  should  offer  any.  And  first  of  all, 
in  a  set  combat,  he  slew  Periphetes,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Epidaurus,  who  used  a  club  for  his  arms,  and  from 
thence  had  the  name  of  Corynetes,  or  the  club-bearer; 
who  seized  upon  him,  and  forbade  him  to  go  forward  in 
his  journey.  Being  pleased  with  the  club,  he  took  it, 
and  made  it  his  weaj^on,  continuing  to  use  it  as  Hercules 
did  the  lion's  skin,  on  whose  shoulders  that  served  to 
prove  how  huge  a  beast  he  had  killed ;  and  to  the 
same  end  Theseus  carried  about  him  this  club ;  over- 
come indeed  by  him,  but  now,  in  his  hands,  invincible. 

Passing  on  further  towards  the  Isthmus  of  Pelopon- 
nesus, he  slew  Sinnis,  often  surnamed  the  Bender  of  Pines, 
after  the  same  manner  in  which  he  himself  had  destroyed 
many  others  before.  And  this  he  did  without  having 
either  practised  or  ever  learnt  the  art  of  bending  these 
trees,  to  show  that  natural  strength  is  above  all  art. 
This  Sinnis  had  a  daughter  of  remarkable  beauty  and 
stature,  called  Perigune,  who,  when  her  father  was  killed, 
fled,  and  was  sought  after  everywhere  by  Theseus ;  and 
coming  into  a  place  overgrown  with  brushwood,  shrubs, 


8  THESEUS. 

and  asparagus- thorn,  there,  in  a  childlike,  innocent  manner, 
prayed  and  begged  them,  as  if  they  imderstood  her,  to 
give  her  shelter,  with  vows  that  if  she  escaped  she  would 
never  cut  them  down  nor  burn  them.  But  Theseus  call- 
ing upon  her,  and  giving  her  his  promise  that  he  would 
use  her  with  respect,  and  offer  her  no  injury,  she  came 
forth,  and  in  due  time  bore  him  a  son,  named  Melanip- 
pus ;  but  afterwards  was  married  to  Deioneus,  the  son  of 
Eurytus,  the  (Echalian,  Theseus  himself  giving  her  to 
him.  loxus,  the  son  of  this  Melanippus  who  was  born  to 
Theseus,  accompanied  Ornytus  in  the  colony  that  he 
carried  with  him  into  Caria,  whence  it  is  a  family  usage 
amongst  the  people  .called  loxids,  both  male  and  female, 
never  to  burn  either  shrubs  or  asparagus-thorn,  but  to 
respect  and  honor  them. 

The  Crommyonian  sow,  which  they  called  Phsea,  was  a 
savage  and  formidable  wild  beast,  by  no  means  an  enemy 
to  be  despised.  Theseus  killed  her,  going  out  of  his  way 
on  purpose  to  meet  and  engage  her,  so  that  he  might  not 
seem  to  perform  all  his  great  exploits  out  of  mere  neces- 
sity ;  being  also  of  opinion  that  it  was  the  part  of  a  brave 
man  to  chastise  villanous  and  wicked  men  when  attacked 
by  them,  but  to  seek  out  and  overcome  the  more  noble 
wild  beasts.  Others  relate  that  Phuea  was  a  woman,  a 
robber  full  of  cruelty  and  lust,  that  lived  in  Crommyon, 
and  had  the  name  of  Sow  given  her  from  the  foulness  of 
her  life  and  manners,  and  afterwards  was  killed  by  The- 
seus. He  slew  also  Sciron,  upon  the  borders  of  Megara, 
casting  him  down  from  the  rocks,  being,  as  most  report,  a 
notorious  robber  of  all  passengers,  and,  as  others  add,  ac- 
customed, out  of  insolence  and  wantonness,  to  stretch  forth 
his  feet  to  strangers,  commanding  them  to  wash  them, 
and  then  wliile  they  did  it,  with  a  kick  to  send  them  down 
the  rock  into  the  sea.  The  writers  of  Megara,  however, 
in  contradiction  to  the  received  report,  and,  as  Simonides 


THESEUS.  9 

expresses  it,  "  fighting  with  all  antiquity,"  contend  that 
Sciron  was  neither  a  robber  nor  doer  of  violence,  but  a 
punisher  of  all  such,  and  the  relative  and  friend  of  good 
and  just  men ;  for  ^acus,  they  say,  was  ever  esteemed  a 
man  of  the  greatest  sanctity  of  all  the  Greeks  ;  and 
Cychreus,  the  Salaminian,  was  honored  at  Athens  with 
divine  worship  ;  and  the  virtues  of  Peleus  and  Telamon 
were  not  unknown  to  any  one.  Now  Sciron  was  son-in- 
law  to  Cychreus,  father-in-law  to  iEacus,  and  grandfather 
to  Peleus  and  Telamon,  who  were  both  of  them  sons  of 
Endeis,  the  daughter  of  Sciron  and  Chariclo ;  it  was  not 
probable,  therefore,  that  the  best  of  men  should  make 
these  alliances  with  one  who  was  worst,  giving  and  recei- 
ving mutually  what  was  of  greatest  value  and  most  dear 
to  them.  Theseus,  by  their  account,  did  not  slay  Sciron 
in  his  first  journey  to  Athens,  but  afterwards,  when  he 
took  Eleusis,  a  city  of  the  Megarians,  having  circumvented 
Diodes,  the  governor.  Such  are  the  contradictions  in 
this  story.  In  Eleusis  he  killed  Cercyon,  the  Arcadian, 
in  a  wrestling  match.  x\nd  going  on  a  little  farther,  in 
Erineus,  he  slew  Damastes,  otherwise  called  Procrustes, 
forcing  his  body  to  the  size  of  his  own  bed,  as  he  himself 
was  used  to  do  with  all  strangers ;  this  he  did  in  imitation 
of  Hercules,  who  always  returned  upon  his  assailants  the 
same  sort  of  violence  that  they  ofiered  to  him  ;  sacrificed 
Busiris,  killed  Antaeus  in  wrestling,  and  Cj^cnus  in  single 
combat,  and  Termerus  by  breaking  his  skull  in  pieces 
(whence,  they  say,  comes  the  proverb  of  "  a  Termerian 
mischief"),  for  it  seems  Termerus  killed  passengers  that 
he  met,  by  running  with  his  head  against  them.  And 
so  also  Theseus  proceeded  in  the  punishment  of  evil 
men,  who  underwent  the  same  violence  from  him  which 
they  had  inflicted  upon  others,  justly  sufiering  after  the 
manner  of  their  own  injustice. 


10  THESEUS. 

As  he  went  forward  on  his  journey,  and  was  come  as 
far  as  the  river  Cephisus,  some  of  the  race  of  the  Phy- 
talidaB  met  him  and  saluted  him,  and,  upon  his  desire  to 
use  the  purifications,  then  in  custom,  they  performed 
them  with  all  the  usual  ceremonies,  and,  having  offered 
propitiatory  sacrifices  to  the  gods,  invited  him  and  enter- 
tained him  at  their  house,  a  kindness  which,  in  all  his 
journey  hitherto,  he  had  not  met. 

On  the  eighth  day  of  Cronius,  now  called  Hecatom- 
baeon,  he  arrived  at  Athens,  where  he  found  the  public 
affairs  full  of  all  confusion,  and  divided  into  parties  and 
factions,  Mgeus  also,  and  his  whole  private  family,  labor- 
ing under  the  same  distemper :  for  Medea,  having  fled 
from  Corinth,  and  promised  iEgeus  to  make  him,  by  her 
art,  capable  of  having  children,  was  living  with  him.  She 
first  was  aware  of  Theseus,  whom  as  yet  ^geus  did  not 
know,  and  he  being  in  years,  full  of  jealousies  and  suspi- 
cions, and  fearing  every  thing  by  reason  of  the  faction 
that  was  then  in  the  city,  she  easily  persuaded  him  to  kill 
him  by  poison  at  a  banquet,  to  which  he  was  to  be  invited 
as  a  stranger.  He,  coming  to  the  entertainment,  thought 
it  not  fit  to  discover  himself  at  once,  but,  willing  to  give 
his  father  the  occasion  of  first  finding  him  out,  the  meat 
being  on  the  table,  he  drew  his  sword  as  if  he  designed 
to  cut  with  it ;  ^geus,  at  once  recognizing  the  token,  threw 
down  the  cup  of  poison,  and,  questioning  his  son,  embraced 
him,  and,  having  gathered  together  all  his  citizens,  owned 
liim  publicly  before  them,  who,  on  their  part,  received 
him  gladly  for  the  fame  of  his  greatness  and  bravery; 
and  it  is  said,  that  when  the  cup  fell,  the  poison  was  spilt 
there  where  now  is  the  enclosed  space  in  the  Delphinium; 
for  in  that  place  stood  JEgeus's  house,  and  the  figure 
of  Mercury  on  the  east  side  of  the  temple  is  called  the 
Mercury  of  jEgeus's  gate. 


THESEUS.  11 

The  sons  of  Pallas,  who  before  were  quiet,  upon  expeo 
tation  of  recovering  the  kingdom  after  ^geus's  death, 
who  was  T\'ithout  issue,  as  soon  as  Theseus  appeared  and 
was  acknowledged  the  successor,  highly  resenting  that 
iEgeus  first,  an  adopted  son  only  of  Pandion,  and  not  at 
all  related  to  the  family  of  Erechtheus,  should  be  holding 
the  kingdom,  and  that  after  him,  Theseus,  a  visitor  and 
stranger,  should  be  destined  to  succeed  to  it,  broke  out  into 
open  war.  And,  dividing  themselves  into  two  companies, 
one  part  of  them  marched  openly  from  Sphettus,  with 
their  father,  against  the  city,  the  other,  hiding  themselves 
in  the  village  of  Gargettus,  lay  in  ambush,  with  a  design 
to  set  upon  the  enemy  on  both  sides.  They  had  with 
them  a  crier  of  the  township  of  Agnus,  named  Leos,  who 
discovered  to  Theseus  all  the  designs  of  the  Pallantida?. 
He  immediately  fell  upon  those  that  lay  in  ambuscade, 
and  cut  them  all  oif ;  upon  tidings  of  which  Pallas  and 
his  company  fled  and  were  dispersed. 

From  hence  they  say  is  derived  the  custom  among  the 
people  of  the  township  of  Pallene  to  have  no  marriages 
or  any  alliance  with  the  people  of  Agnus,  nor  to  suffer 
the  criers  to  pronounce  in  their  proclamations  the  words 
used  in  all  other  parts  of  the  country,  Acouete  Leoi 
(Hear  ye  people),  hating  the  very  sound  of  Leo,  because 
of  the  treason  of  Leos. 

Theseus,  longing  to  be  in  action,  and  desirous  also  to 
make  himself  popular,  left  Athens  to  fight  with  the  bull 
of  Marathon,  which  did  no  small  mischief  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Tetrapolis.  And  having  overcome  it,  he  brought 
it  alive  in  triumph  through  the  city,  and  afterwards  sacri- 
ficed it  to  the  Delphinian  Apollo.  The  story  of  Hecale, 
also,  of  her  receiving  and  entertaining  Theseus  in  this 
expedition,  seems  to  be  not  altogether  void  of  truth ;  for 
the  townships  roimd  about,  meeting  upon  a  certain  day, 


12  THESEU& 

used  to  offer  a  sacrifice,  which  they  called  Hecalesia,  to 
Jupiter  Hecaleius,  and  to  pay  honor  to  Hecale,  whom,  by 
a  diminutive  name,  they  called  Hecalene,  because  she, 
while  entertaining  Theseus,  who  was  quite  a  youth,  ad- 
dressed him,  as  old  people  do,  with  similar  endearing 
diminutives ;  and  having  made  a  vow  to  Jupiter  for  him 
as  he  was  going  to  the  fight,  that,  if  he  returned  in  safety, 
she  would  offer  sacrifices  in  thanks  of  it,  and  dying  before 
he  came  back,  she  had  these  honors  given  her  by  way 
of  return  for  her  hospitality,  by  the  command  of  Theseus, 
as  Philochorus  tells  us. 

Not  long  after  arrived  the  third  time  from  Crete  the 
collectors  of  the  tribute  which  the  Athenians  paid  them 
upon  the  following  occasion.  Androgens  having  been 
treacherously  murdered  in  the  confines  of  Attica,  not  only 
Minos,  his  father,  put  the  Athenians  to  extreme  distress  by 
a  perpetual  war,  but  the  gods  also  laid  waste  their  coun- 
try ;  both  famine  and  pestilence  lay  heavy  upon  them,  and 
even  their  rivers  were  dried  up.  Being  told  by  the  oracle 
that,  if  they  appeased  and  reconciled  Minos,  the  anger  of 
the  gods  would  cease  and  they  should  enjoy  rest  from  the 
miseries  they  labored  under,  they  sent  heralds,  and  with 
much  supplication  were  at  last  reconciled,  entering  into 
an  agreement  to  send  to  Crete  every  nine  years  a  tribute 
of  seven  young  men  and  as  many  virgins,  as  most  writers 
agree  in  stating;  and  the  most  poetical  story  adds,  that 
the  Minotaur  destroyed  them,  or  that,  wandering  in  the 
labyrinth,  and  finding  no  possible  means  of  getting  out, 
they  miserably  ended  their  lives  there ;  and  that  this 
Minotaur  was  (as  Euripides  hath  it) 

A  mingled  form,  where  two  strange  shapes  combined. 
And  different  natures,  bull  and  man,  were  joined. 

But  Philochorus  says  that  the  Cretans  will  by  no  means 


THESEUS.  13 

allow  the  truth  of  this,  but  say  that  the  labyrinth  was 
only  an  ordinary  prison,  having  no  other  bad  quality  but 
that  it  secured  the  prisoners  from  escaping,  and  that 
Minos,  having  instituted  games  in  honor  of  Androgens, 
gave,  as  a  reward  to  the  victors,  these  youths,  who  in  the 
mean  time  were  kept  in  the  labyrinth  ;  and  that  the  first 
that  overcame  in  those  games  was  one  of  the  greatest 
power  and  command  among  them,  named  Taurus,  a  man 
of  no  merciful  or  gentle  disposition,  who  treated  the 
Athenians  that  were  made  his  prize  in  a  proud  and  cruel 
manner.  Also  Aristotle  himself,  in  the  account  that  he 
gives  of  the  form  of  government  of  the  Bottioeans,  is  man- 
ifestly of  opinion  that  the  youths  were  not  slain  by  Minos, 
but  spent  the  remainder  of  their  days  in  slavery  in  Crete  ; 
that  the  Cretans,  in  former  times,  to  acquit  themselves  of 
an  ancient  vow  which  they  had  made,  were  used  to  send 
an  offering  of  the  first-fruits  of  their  men  to  Delphi,  and 
that  some  descendants  of  these  Athenian  slaves  were 
mingled  with  them  and  sent  amongst  them,  and,  unable 
to  get  their  living  there,  removed  from  thence,  first  into 
Italy,  and  settled  about  Japygia ;  from  thence  again, 
that  they  removed  to  Thrace,  and  were  named  Bottiseans  ; 
and  that  this  is  the  reason  why,  in  a  certain  sacrifice,  the 
Bottiosan  girls  sing  a  hymn  beginning  Let  us  go  to  Athens. 
This  may  show  us  how  dangerous  a  thing  it  is  to  incur 
the  hostility  of  a  city  that  is  mistress  of  eloquence  and 
song.  For  Minos  was  always  ill  spoken  of,  and  repre- 
sented ever  as  a  very  wicked  man,  in  the  Athenian  thea- 
tres ;  neither  did  Hesiod  avail  him  by  calling  him  "  the 
most  royal  Minos,"  nor  Homer,  who  styles  him  "  Jupiter^ s 
familiar  friend ; "  the  tragedians  got  the  better,  and  from  the 
vantage  ground  of  the  stage  showered  down  obloquy  upon 
him,  as  a  man  of  cruelty  and  violence ;  whereas,  in  fact, 
he  appears  to  have  been   a  king   and   a   lawgiver,  and 


14  THESEUS. 

Khadamanthus   a  judge    under   him,  administering   the 
statutes  that  he  ordained. 

Now  when  the  time  of  the  third  tribute  was  come,  and 
the  fathers  who  had  any  young  men  for  their  sons  were 
to  proceed  by  lot  to  the  choice  of  those  that  were  to  be 
sent,  there  arose  fresh  discontents  and  accusations  against 
^geus  among  the  people,  who  were  full  of  grief  and 
indignation  that  he,  who  was  the  cause  of  all  their  mise- 
ries, was  the  only  person  exempt  from  the  punishment; 
adopting  and  settling  his  kingdom  upon  a  bastard  and 
foreign  son,  he  took  no  thought,  they  said,  of  their  de- 
stitution and  loss,  not  of  bastards,  but  lawful  children. 
These  things  sensibly  affected  Theseus,  who,  thinking  it 
but  just  not  to  disregard,  but  rather  partake  of,  the  suffer- 
ings of  his  fellow  citizens,  offered  himself  for  one  without 
any  lot.  All  else  were  struck  with  admiration  for  the 
nobleness  and  with  love  for  the  goodness  of  the  act ;  and 
^geus,  after  prayers  and  entreaties,  finding  him  inflexible 
and  not  to  be  persuaded,  proceeded  to  the  choosing  of  the 
rest  by  lot.  Hellanicus,  however,  tells  us  that  the  Athe- 
nians did  not  send  the  young  men  and  virgins  by  lot,  but 
that  Minos  himself  used  to  come  and  make  his  own 
choice,  and  pitched  upon  Theseus  before  all  others;  accord- 
ing to  the  conditions  agreed  upon  between  them,  namely, 
that  the  Athenians  should  furnish  them  with  a  ship,  and 
that  the  young  men  that  were  to  sail  with  him  should 
carry  no  weapon  of  war ;  but  that  if  the  Minotaur  was 
destroyed,  the  tribute  should  cease. 

On  the  two  former  occasions  of  the  payment  of  the 
tribute,  entertaining  no  hopes  of  safety  or  return,  they 
sent  out  the  ship  with  a  black  sail,  as  to  unavoidable 
destruction ;  but  now,  Theseus  encouraging  his  father 
and  speaking  greatly  of  himself,  as  confident  that  he 
should  kill  the  Minotaur,  he  gave  the  pilot  another  sail. 


THESEUS.  16 

which  was  white,  commanding  him,  as  he  returned,  if 
Theseus  were  safe,  to  make  use  of  that ;  but  if  not,  to  sail 
with  the  black  one,  and  to  hang  out  that  sign  of  his  mis- 
fortune. Simonides  says  that  the  sail  which  ^geus  deliv- 
ered to  the  pilot  was  not  white,  but 

Scarlet,  in  the  juicy  bloom 

Of  the  living  oak-tree  steeped,* 

and  that  this  was  to  be  the  sign  of  their  escape.  Phere- 
clus,  son  of  Amarsyas,  according  to  Simonides,  was  pilot 
of  the  ship.  But  Philochorus  says  Theseus  had  sent  him 
by  Scirus,  from  Salamis,  Nausitholis  to  be  his  steersman, 
and  Phaeax  his  look-out-man  in  the  prow,  the  Athenians 
having  as  yet  not  applied  themselves  to  navigation  ;  and 
that  Scirus  did  this  because  one  of  the  young  men,  Me- 
nesthes,  was  his  daughter's  son ;  and  this  the  chapels  of 
Nausithoiis  and  Phaaax,  built  by  Theseus  near  the  temple 
of  Scirus,  confirm.  He  adds,  also,  that  the  feast  named 
Cybemesia  f  was  in  honor  of  them.  The  lot  being  cast, 
and  Theseus  having  received  out  of  the  Prytaneiim  those 
upon  whom  it  fell,  he  went  to  the  Delphinium,  and  made 
an  offering  for  them  to  Apollo  of  his  suppliant's  badge, 
which  was  a  bough  of  a  consecrated  olive  tree,  with  white 
wool  tied  about  it. 

Having  thus  performed  his  devotion,  he  went  to  sea, 
the  sixth  day  of  Munychion,  on  which  day  even  to  this 
time  the  Athenians  send  their  virgins  to  the  same  temple 
to  make  supplication  to  the  gods.  It  is  farther  reported 
that  he  was  commanded  by  the  oracle  at  Delphi  to  make 
Venus  his  guide,  and  to  invoke  her  as  the  companion  and 
conductress  of  his  voyage,  and  that,  as  he  was  sacrificing 
a  she  goat  to  her  by  the  seaside,  it  was  suddenly  changed 
into  a  he,  and  for  this  cause  that  goddess  had  the  name 
of  Epitragia.  | 

*  Prinus,  the  scarlet-oak.  J  TrSgos,  a  he  goat 

t  Pilots'  feast. 


16  THESEUS. 

When  he  arrived  at  Crete,  as  most  of  the  ancient  his- 
torians as  well  as  poets  tell  us,  having  a  clue  of  thread 
given  him  by  Ariadne,  who  had  fallen  in  love  with  him, 
and  being  instructed  by  her  how  to  use  it  so  as  to  con- 
duct him  through  the  windings  of  the  labyi'inth,  he 
escaped  out  of  it  and  slew  the  Minotaur,  and  sailed  back, 
taking  along  with  him  Ariadne  and  the  young  Athenian 
captives.  Pherecydes  adds  that  he  bored  holes  in  the  bot- 
toms of  the  Cretan  ships  to  hinder  their  pursuit.  Demon 
writes  that  Taurus,  the  chief  captain  of  Minos,  was  slain 
by  Theseus  at  the  mouth  of  the  port,  in  a  naval  combat, 
as  he  was  sailing  out  for  Athens.  But  Philochorus  gives 
us  the  story  thus :  That  at  the  setting  forth  of  the  yearly 
games  by  king  Minos,  Taurus  was  expected  to  carry  away 
the  prize,  as  he  had  done  before ;  and  was  much  grudged 
the  honor.  His  character  and  manners  made  his  power 
hateful,  and  he  was  accused  moreover  of  too  near  famili- 
arity with  Pasiphae,  for  which  reason,  when  Theseus 
desired  the  combat,  Minos  readily  complied.  And  as  it 
was  a  custom  in  Crete  that  the  women  also  should  be 
admitted  to  the  sight  of  these  games,  Ariadne,  being  pre- 
sent, was  struck  with  admiration  of  the  manly  beauty  of 
Theseus,  and  the  vigor  and  address  which  he  showed  in 
the  combat,  overcoming  all  that  encountered  with  him. 
Minos,  too,  being  extremely  pleased  with  him,  especially 
because  he  had  overthrown  and  disgraced  Taurus,  volun- 
tarily gave  up  the  young  captives  to  Theseus,  and  remit- 
ted the  tribute  to  the  Athenians.  Clidemus  gives  an 
account  peculiar  to  himself,  very  ambitiously,  and  be- 
ginning a  great  way  back :  That  it  was  a  decree  consented 
to  by  all  Greece,  that  no  vessel  from  any  place,  containing 
above  five  persons,  should  be  permitted  to  sail,  Jason  only 
excepted,  who  was  made  captain  of  the  great  ship  Argo, 
to  sail  about  and  scour  the  sea  of  pirates.  But  Dasdalus 
having  escaped  from  Crete,  and  flying  by  sea  to  Athens, 


THESEUS.  1 7 

Minos,  contrary  to  this  decree,  pursued  him  with  his 
ships  of  war,  was  forced  by  a  storm  upon  Sicil}^,  and 
there  ended  his  life.  After  his  decease,  Deucalion,  his 
son,  desiring  a  quarrel  with  the  i^-thenians,  sent  to  them, 
demanding  that  they  should  deliver  up  Dsedalus  to 
him,  threatening,  upon  their  refusal,  to  put  to  death  all 
the  young  Athenians  whom  his  father  had  received  as 
hostages  from  the  city.  To  this  angry  message  Theseus 
returned  a  very  gentle  answer,  excusing  himself  that  he 
could  not  dehver  up  Daedalus,  who  was  nearly  related  to 
him,  being  his  cousin-german,  his  mother  being  Merope, 
the  daughter  of  Erechtheus.  In  the  mean  while  he  secretly 
prepared  a  navy,  part  of  it  at  home  near  the  village  of 
the  Thymoetadse,  a  place  of  no  resort,  and  far  from  any 
common  roads,  the  other  part  by  his  grandfather  Pit- 
theus's  means  at  Troezen,  that  so  his  design  might  be 
carried  on  with  the  greatest  secrecy.  As  soon  as  ever  his 
fleet  was  in  readiness,  he  set  sail,  having  with  him  Dae- 
dalus and  other  exiles  from  Crete  for  his  guides;  and 
none  of  the  Cretans  having  any  knowledge  of  his  coming, 
but  imagining,  when  they  saw  his  fleet,  that  they  were 
friends  and  vessels  of  their  own,  he  soon  made  himself 
master  of  the  port,  and,  immediately  making  a  descent, 
reached  Gnossus  before  any  notice  of  his  coming,  and,  in 
a  battle  before  the  gates  of  the  labyrinth,  put  Deucalion 
and  all  his  guards  to  the  sword.  The  government  by  this 
means  falling  to  Ariadne,  he  made  a  league  with  her,  and 
received  the  captives  of  her,  and  ratified,  a  perpetual 
friendship  between  the  Athenians  and  the  Cretans,  whom 
he  engaged  under  an  oath  never  again  to  commence  any 
war  with  Athens. 

There  are  yet  many  other  traditions  about  these  things, 
and  as  many  concerning  Ariadne,  all  inconsistent  with 
each  other.  Some  relate  that  she  hung  herself,  being 
deserted  by  Theseus.     Others  that  she  was  carried  awa-y 

VOL.    I.  2 


18  THESEUS. 

by  his  sailors  to  the  isle  of  Naxos,  and  married  to  (Enarus, 
priest  of  Bacchus ;  and  that  Theseus  left  her  because  he 
fell  in  love  with  another, 

For  iEgle's  love  was  burning  in  his  breast ; 

a  verse  which  Hereas,  the  Megarian,  says,  was  formerly 
in  the  poet  Hesiod's  works,  but  put  out  by  Pisistratus, 
in  like  manner  as  he  added  in  Homer's  Raising  of  the 
Dead,  to  gratify  the  Athenians,  the  line 

Theseus,  Pirithous,  mighty  sons  of  gods. 

Others  say  Ariadne  had  sons  also  by  Theseus,  CEno- 
pion  and  Staphylus ;  and  among  these  is  the  poet  Ion  of 
Chios,  who  writes  of  his  own  native  city 

Which  once  Qiinopion,  son  of  Theseus,  built. 

But  the  more  famous  of  the  legendary  stories  every- 
body (as  I  may  say)  has  in  his  mouth.  In  Paeon,  how- 
ever, the  Amathusian,  there  is  a  story  given,  diflfering 
from  the  rest.  For  he  writes  that  Theseus,  being  driven 
by  a  storm  upon  the  isle  of  Cyprus,  and  having  aboard 
with  him  Ariadne,  big  with  child,  and  extremely  discom- 
posed with  the  rolling  of  the  sea,  set  her  on  shore,  and 
left  her  there  alone,  to  return  himself  and  help  the  ship, 
when,  on  a  sudden,  a  violent  wind  carried  him  again  out 
to  sea.  That  the  women  of  the  island  received  Ariadne 
very  kindly,  and  did  all  they  could  to  console  and  alle- 
viate her  distress  at  being  left  behind.  That  they  coun- 
terfeited kind  letters,  and  delivered  them  to  her,  as  sent 
from  Theseus,  and,  when  she  fell  in  labor,  were  diligent 
in  performing  to  her  every  needful  service ;  but  that  she 
died  before  she  could  be  delivered,  and  was  honorably 
interred.  That  soon  after  Theseus  returned,  and  was 
greatly  afflicted  for  her  loss,  and  at  his  departure  left  a 
sum  of  money  among  the  people  of  the  island,  ordering 


THESEUS.  19 

them  to  do  sacrifice  to  Ariadne  ;  and  caused  two  little 
images  to  be  made  and  dedicated  to  her,  one  of  silver  and 
the  other  of  brass.  Moreover,  that  on  the  second  day  of 
Gorpiasus,*  which  is  sacred  to  Ariadne,  they  have  this 
ceremony  among  their  sacrifices,  to  have  a  youth  lie 
down  and  with  his  voice  and  gesture  represent  the  pains 
of  a  woman  in  travail ;  and  that  the  Amathusians  call  the 
grove  in  which  they  show  her  tomb,  the  grove  of  Venus 
Ariadne. 

Differing  yet  from  this  account,  some  of  the  Naxians 
write  that  there  were  two  Minoses  and  two  Ariadnes,  one 
of  whom,  they  say,  was  married  to  Bacchus,  in  the  isle  of 
Naxos,  and  bore  the  children  Staphylus  and  his  brother ; 
but  that  the  other,  of  a  later  age,  was  carried  off  by  The- 
seus, and,  being  afterwards  deserted  by  him,  retired  to 
Naxos  with  her  nurse  Corcyna,  whose  grave  they  yet 
show.  That  this  Ariadne  also  died  there,  and  was  wor- 
shipped by  the  island,  but  in  a  different  manner  from  the 
former ;  for  her  day  is  celebrated  with  general  joy  and 
revelling,  but  all  the  sacrifices  performed  to  the  latter 
are  attended  with  mourning  and  gloom. 

Now  Theseus,  in  his  return  from  Crete,  put  in  at  Delos, 
and,  having  sacrificed  to  the  god  of  the  island,  dedicated 
to  the  temple  the  image  of  Venus  which  Ariadne  had 
given  him,  and  danced  with  the  young  Athenians  a  dance 
that,  in  memory  of  him,  they  say  is  still  preserved  among 
the  inhabitants  of  Delos,  consisting  in  certain  measured 
turnings  and  returnings,  imitative  of  the  windings  and 
twistings  of  the  labyrinth.  And  this  dance,  as  Dicsearchus 
writes,  is  called  among  the  Delians,  the  Crane.  This  he 
danced  round  the  Ceratonian  Altar,  f  so  called  from  its 
consisting  of  horns  taken  from  the  left  side  of  the  head. 
They  say  also  that  he  instituted  games  in  Delos,  where 

*  September.  t  Keras,  a  horn. 


20  TIIiiSEUS. 

he  was  the  first  that  befijan  the  custom  of  giving  a  pabu 
to  the  victors. 

When  they  were  come  near  the  coast  of  Attica,  so  great 
was  the  joy  for  the  happy  success  of  their  voyage,  that 
neither  Theseus  himself  nor  the  pilot  remembered  to  hang 
out  the  sail  which  should  have  been  the  token  of  their 
safety  to  ^geus,  who,  in  despair  at  the  sight,  threw  himseK 
headlong  from  a  rock,  and  perished  in  the  sea.  But  The- 
seus, being  arrived  at  the  port  of  Phalerum,  paid  there  the 
sacrifices  which  he  had  vowed  to  the  gods  at  his  setting 
out  to  sea,  and  sent  a  herald  to  the  city  to  carry  the  news 
of  his  safe  return.  At  his  entrance,  the  herald  found  the 
people  for  the  most  part  full  of  grief  for  the  loss  of  their 
king,  others,  as  may  well  be  believed,  as  full  of  joy  for 
the  tidings  that  he  brought,  and  eager  to  welcome  him 
and  crown  him  with  garlands  for  his  good  news,  which  he 
indeed  accepted  of,  but  hung  them  upon  his  herald's 
staff;  and  thus  returning  to  the  seaside  before  Theseus 
had  finished  his  hbation  to  the  gods,  he  stayed  apart  for 
fear  of  disturbing  the  holy  rites,  but,  as  soon  as  the  liba- 
tion was  ended,  went  up  and  related  the  king's  death, 
upon  the  hearing  of  which,  with  great  lamentations  and 
a  confused  tumult  of  grief,  they  ran  with  all  haste  to  the 
city.  And  from  hence,  they  say,  it  comes  that  at  this  day, 
in  the  feast  of  Oschophoria,  the  herald  is  not  crowned,  but 
his  staff,  and  all  who  are  present  at  the  libation  cry  out 
eleleu,  ion,  iou,  the  first  of  which  confused  sounds  is  com- 
monly used  by  men  in  haste,  or  at  a  triumph,  the  other 
is  proper  to  people  in  consternation  or  disorder  of  mind. 

Theseus,  after  the  funeral  of  his  father,  paid  his  vows 
to  Apollo  the  seventh  day  of  Pyanepsion ;  for  on  that  day 
the  youth  that  returned  with  him  safe  from  Crete  made 
their  entry  into  the  city.  They  say,  also,  that  the  custom 
of  boiling  pulse  at  this  feast  is  derived  from  hence ;  be- 
cause the  young  men  that  escaped  put  all  that  was  left 


THESEUS.  21 

of  their  provision  together,  and,  boiling  it  in  one  common 
pot,  feasted  themselves  with  it,  and  ate  it  all  up  together. 
Hence,  also,  they  carry  in  procession  an  olive  branch 
bound  about  with  wool  (such  as  they  then  made  use  of 
in  their  supplications),  which  they  call  Eiresione,  crowned 
with  all  sorts  of  fruits,  to  signify  that  scarcity  and  barren- 
ness was  ceased,  singing  in  their  procession  this  song : 

Eiresione  bring  figs,  and  Eiresione  bring  loaves  ; 
Bring  us  honey  in  pints,  and  oil  to  rub  on  our  bodies, 
And  a  strong  llagon  of  wine,  for  all  to  go  mellow  to  bed  on. 

Although  some  hold  opinion  that  this  ceremony  is  re- 
tained in  memory  of  the  Heraclidse,  who  were  thus  enter- 
tained and  brought  up  by  the  Athenians.  But  most  are 
of  the  opinion  which  we  have  given  above. 

The  ship  wherein  Theseus  and  the  youth  of  Athens  re- 
turned had  thirty  oars,  and  was  preserved  by  the  Athenians 
down  even  to  the  time  of  Demetrius  Phalereus,  for  they 
took  away  the  old  planks  as  they  decayed,  putting  in  new 
and  stronger  timber  in  their  place,  insomuch  that  this  ship 
became  a  standing  example  among  the  philosophers,  for 
the  logical  question  as  to  things  that  grow;*  one  side 
holding  that  the  ship  remained  the  same,  and  the  other 
contending  that  it  was  not  the  same. 

The  feast  called  Oschophoria,  or  the  feast  of  boughs, 
which  to  this  day  the  Athenians  celebrate,  was  then  first 
instituted  by  Theseus.  For  he  took  not  with  him  the 
full  number  of  virgins  which  by  lot  were  to  be  carried 
away,  but  selected  two  youths  of  his  acquaintance,  of 
fair  and  womanish  faces,  but  of  a  manly  and  forward 
spirit,  and  having,  by  frequent  baths,  and  avoiding  the 

*  The  Problem  called  Auxano-  famous  one  called  PseudomSnos, 
menos,  the  grower,  like  the  more     the  liar. 


22  THESEUS. 

heat  and  scorching  of  the  sun,  with  a  constant  use  of  all 
the  ointments  and  washes  and  dresses  that  serve  to  the 
adorning  of  the  head  or  smoothing  the  skin  or  improving 
the  complexion,  in  a  manner  changed  them  from  what 
they  were  before,  and  having  taught  them  farther  to 
counterfeit  the  very  voice  and  carriage  and  gait  of  virgins, 
so  that  there  could  not  be  the  least  difference  perceived ; 
he,  undiscovered  by  any,  put  them  into  the  number  of 
the  Athenian  maids  designed  for  Crete.  At  his  return, 
he  and  these  two  youths  led  up  a  solemn  procession,  in 
the  same  habit  that  is  now  worn  by  those  who  carry  the 
vine-branches.  These  branches  they  carry  in  honor  of 
Bacchus  and  Ariadne,  for  the  sake  of  their  story  before 
related ;  or  rather  because  they  happened  to  return  in  au- 
tumn, the  time  of  gathering  the  grapes.  The  women 
whom  they  call  Deipnopherae,  or  supper-carriers,  are  taken 
into  these  ceremonies,  and  assist  at  the  sacrifice,  in  re- 
membrance and  imitation  of  the  mothers  of  the  young 
men  and  virgins  upon  whom  the  lot  fell,  for  thus  they  ran 
about  bringing  bread  and  meat  to  their  children;  and 
because  the  women  then  told  their  sons  and  daughters 
many  tales  and  stories,  to  comfort  and  encourage  them 
under  the  danger  they  were  going  upon,  it  has  still  con- 
tinued a  custom  that  at  this  feast  old  fables  and  tales 
should  be  told.  For  these  particularities  we  are  indebted 
to  the  history  of  Demon.  There  was  then  a  place  chosen 
out,  and  a  temple  erected  in  it  to  Theseus,  and  those  fam- 
ilies out  of  whom  the  tribute  of  the  youth  was  gathered 
were  appointed  to  pay  a  tax  to  the  temple  for  sacrifices 
to  him.  And  the  house  of  the  PhytalidiB  had  the  over- 
seeing of  these  sacrifices,  Theseus  doing  them  that  honor 
in  recompense  of  their  former  hospitality. 

Now,  after  the  death  of  his  father  ^geus,  forming  in 
his  mind  a  great  and  wonderful  design,  he  gathered  to- 


THESEUS.  23 

gether  all  the  inLabitants  of  Attica  into  one  town,  and 
made  them  one  people  of  one  city,  whereas  before  they 
lived  dispersed,  and  were  not  easy  to  assemble  upon  any 
aflfair  for  the  common  interest.  Nay,  differences  and  even 
wars  often  occurred  between  them,  which  he  by  his  per- 
suasions appeased,  going  from  township  to  township,  and 
from  tribe  to  tribe.  And  those  of  a  more  private  and 
mean  condition  readily  embracing  such  good  advice,  to 
those  of  greater  power  he  promised  a  commonwealth 
without  monarchy,  a  democracy,  or  people's  government 
in  which  he  should  only  be  continued  as  their  commander 
in  war  and  the  protector  of  their  laws,  all  things  else 
being  equally  distributed  among  them ;  —  and  by  this 
means  brought  a  part  of  them  over  to  his  proposal.  The 
rest,  fearing  his  power,  which  was  already  grown  very  for- 
midable, and  knowing  his  courage  and  resolution,  chose 
rather  to  be  persuaded  than  forced  into  a  compliance. 
He  then  dissolved  all  the  distinct  state-houses,  council 
halls,  and  magistracies,  and  built  one  common  state-house  * 
and  council  hall  on  the  site  of  the  present  upper  town, 
and  gave  the  name  of  Athens  to  the  whole  state,  ordain- 
ing a  common  feast  and  sacrifice,  which  he  called  Pana- 
thenaea,  or  the  sacrifice  of  all  the  united  Athenians.  He 
instituted  also  another  sacrifice,  called  Metcecia,  or  Feast 
of  Migration,  which  is  yet  celebrated  on  the  sixteenth 
day  of  Hecatombseon.  Then,  as  he  had  promised,  he  laid 
down  his  regal  power  and  proceeded  to  order  a  common- 
wealth, entering  upon  this  great  work  not  without  advice 
from  the  gods.  For  having  sent  to  consult  the  oracle  of 
Delphi  concerning  the  fortune  of  his  new  government 
and  city,  he  received  this  answer : 

Son  of  the  Pitthean  maid, 

To  your  town  the  terms  and  fates, 

*  Prytaneiim. 


24  THESEUS. 

My  father  gives  of  many  states. 
Be  not  anxious  nor  afraid  ; 
The  bladder  will  not  fail  to  swim 
On  the  waves  that  compass  him. 

Which  oracle,  they  say,  one  of  the  sibyls  long  after  did 
in  a  manner  repeat  to  the  Athenians,  in  this  vers^ 

The  bladder  may  be  dipt,  but  not  be  drowned. 

Farther  yet  designing  to  enlarge  his  city,  he  invited  all 
strangers  to  come  and  enjoy  equal  privileges  with  the 
natives,  and  it  is  said  that  the  common  form,  Come 
hither,  all  ye  'people,  was  the  words  that  Theseus  pro- 
claimed when  he  thus  set  up  a  commonwealth,  in  a  man- 
ner, for  all  nations.  Yet  he  did  not  suffer  his  state,  by 
the  promiscuous  multitude  that  flowed  in,  to  be  turned 
into  confusion  and  be  left  without  any  order  or  degree, 
but  was  the  first  that  divided  the  Commonwealth  into 
three  distinct  ranks,  the  noblemen,  the  husbandmen,  and 
artificers.*  To  the  nobility  he  committed  the  care  of  reli- 
gion, the  choice  of  magistrates,  the  teaching  and  dispensing 
of  the  laws,  and  interpretation  and  direction  in  all  sacred 
matters ;  the  whole  city  being,  as  it  were,  reduced  to  an 
exact  equality,  the  nobles  excelling  the  rest  in  honor, 
the  husbandmen  in  profit,  and  the  artificers  in  number. 
And  that  Theseus  was  the  first,  who,  as  Aristotle  says,  out 
of  an  inclination  to  popular  government,  parted  with  the 
regal  power.  Homer  also  seems  to  testify,  in  his  cata- 
logue of  the  ships,  where  he  gives  the  name  of  People  to 
the  Athenians  only. 

He  also  coined  money,  and  stamped  it  with  the  image 
of  an  ox,  either  in  memory  of  the  Marathonian  bull,  or 
cf  Taurus,  whom  he  vanquished,  or  else  to  put  his  people 
in  mind  to  follow  husbandry;  and  from  this  coin  came 

*  Eupatridae,  GeomSri,  Demiurgi. 


THESEUS.  25 

the  expression  so  frequent  among  the  Greeks,  of  a  thing 
being  worth  ten  or  a  hundred  oxen.  After  this  he  johied 
Megara  to  Attica,  and  erected  that  famous  pillar  on  the 
Isthmus,  which  bears  an  inscription  of  two  lines,  showing 
the  bounds  of  the  two  countries  that  meet  there.  On 
the  east  side  the  inscription  is,  — 

Peloponnesus  there,  Ionia  here, 

and  on  the  west  side,  — 

Peloponnesus  here,  louia  there. 

He  also  instituted  the  games,  in  emulation  of  Hercules, 
being  ambitious  that  as  the  Greeks,  by  that  hero's  ap- 
pointment, celebrated  the  Olympian  games  to  the  honor 
of  Jupiter,  so,  by  his  institution,  they  should  celebrate 
the  Isthmian  to  the  honor  of  Neptune.  For  those  that 
were  there  before  observed,  dedicated  to  Melicerta,  were 
performed  privately  in  the  night,  and  had  the  form  rather 
of  a  religious  rite  than  of  an  open  spectacle  or  public 
feast.  There  are  some  who  say  that  the  Isthmian  games 
were  first  instituted  in  memory  of  Sciron,  Theseus  thus 
ma,king  expiation  for  his  death,  upon  account  of  the 
nearness  of  kindred  between  them,  Sciron  being  the  son 
of  Canethus  and  Heniocha,  the  daughter  of  Pittheus; 
though  others  write  that  Sinnis,  not  Sciron,  was  their 
son,  and  that  to  his  honor,  and  not  to  the  other's,  these 
games  were  ordained  by  Theseus.  At  the  same  time 
he  made  an  agreement  with  the  Corinthians,  that  they 
should  allow  those  that  came  from  Athens  to  the 
celebration  of  the  Isthmian  games  as  much  space  of 
honor  before  the  rest  to  behold  the  spectacle  in,  as 
the  sail  of  the  ship  that  brought  them  thither,  stretched 
to  its  full  extent,  could  cover ;  so  Hellanicus  and  Andro 
of  Halicarnassus  have  established. 

Concerning  his  voyage  into  the  Euxine  Sea,  Philochorus 


26  THESEUS. 

and  some  others  write  that  he  made  it  with  Hercules, 
offering  him  his  service  in  the  war  against  the  Amazons, 
and  had  Antiope  given  him  for  the  reward  of  his  valor ; 
but  the  greater  number,  of  whom  are  Pherecydes,  Hel- 
lanicus,  and  Herodorus,  write  that  he  made  this  voyage 
many  years  after  Hercules,  with  a  navy  under  his  own 
command,  and  took  the  Amazon  prisoner,  —  the  more  pro- 
bable story,  for  we  do  not  read  that  any  other,  of  all 
those  that  accompanied   him   in   this   action,  took   any 
Amazon  prisoner.     Bion  adds,  that,  to  take  her,  he  had 
to  use  deceit  and  fly  away ;  for  the  Amazons,  he  says, 
being  naturally  lovers  of  men,  were  so  far  from  avoiding 
Theseus  when  he  touched  upon  their  coasts,  that  they 
sent   him  presents  to  his  ship  ;  but  he,   having  invited 
Antiope,  who  brought  them,  to  come  aboard,  immediately 
set  sail  and  carried  her  away.     An  author  named  Mene- 
crates,  that  wrote  the  History  of  Nicaea  in  Bithynia,  adds, 
that  Theseus,  having  Antiope  aboard  his  vessel,  cruised 
for  some  time  about  those  coasts,  and  that  there  were  in 
the  same  ship  three  young  men  of  Athens,  that  accom- 
panied him  in  this  vo3'^age,  all  brothers,  whose  names 
were  Euneos,  Thoas,  and  Soloon.     The  last  of  these  fell 
desperately   in   love   with   Antiope ;  and,   escaping   the 
notice  of  the  rest,  revealed  the  secret  only  to  one  of  his 
most  intimate  acquaintance,  and  employed  him  to  disclose 
his  passion  to  Antiope,  she  rejected   his  pretences  with 
a  very  positive  denial,  yet  treated  the  matter  with  much 
gentleness   and   discretion,  and   made   no  complaint   to 
Theseus  of  any  thing  that  had  happened ;  but  Soloon, 
the   thing    being   desperate,   leaped    into   a   river   near 
the  seaside  and  drowned  himself     As  soon  as  Theseus 
was   acquainted  with   his  death,  and  his  unhappy  love 
that  was  the  cause  of  it,  he  was  extremely  distressed,  and, 
in  the  height  of  his  grief,  an  oracle  which  he  had  formerly 
received  at  Delphi  came  into  his  mind  ;  for  he  had  been 


THESEUS.  27 

commanded  by  the  priestess  of  Apollo  Pythius,  that,  wher- 
ever in  a  strange  land  he  was  most  sorrowful  and  under 
the  greatest  affliction,  he  should  build  a  city  there,  and 
leave  some  of  his  followers  to  be  governors  of  the  place. 
For  this  cause  he  there  founded  a  city,  which  he  called, 
from  the  name  of  Apollo,  Pythopolis,  and,  in  honor  of 
the  unfortunate  j^outh,  he  named  the  river  that  runs  by 
it  Soloon,  and  left  the  two  surviving  brothers  intrusted 
with  the  care  of  the  government  and  laws,  joining  with 
them  Hermus,  one  of  the  nobility  of  Athens,  from  whom 
a  place  in  the  city  is  called  the  House  of  Hermus ; 
though  by  an  error  in  the  accent*  it  has  been  taken  for 
the  House  of  Hermes,  or  Mercury,  and  the  honor  that 
was  designed  to  the  hero,  transferred  to  the  god. 

This  was  the  origin  and  cause  of  the  Amazonian  inva- 
sion of  Attica,  which  would  seem  to  have  been  no  slight 
or  womanish  enterprise.  For  it  is  impossible  that  they 
should  have  placed  their  camp  in  the  very  city,  and 
joined  battle  close  by  the  Pnyx  and  the  hill  called  Museum, 
unless,  having  first  conquered  the  country  round  about, 
they  had  thus  with  impunity  advanced  to  the  city.  That 
they  made  so  long  a  journey  by  land,  and  passed  the 
Cimmerian  Bosphorus  when  frozen,  as  Hellanicus  writes, 
is  difficult  to  be  believed.  That  they  encamped  all  but 
in  the  city  is  certain,  and  may  be  sufficiently  confirmed 
by  the  names  that  the  places  thereabout  yet  retain,  and 
the  graves  and  monuments  of  those  that  fell  in  the  battle. 
Both  armies  being  in  sight,  there  was  a  long  pause  and 
doubt  on  each  side  which  should  give  the  first  onset ;  at 
last  Theseus,  having  sacrificed  to  Fear,  in  obedience  to 
the  command  of  an  oracle  he  had  received,  gave  them 
battle ;  and  this  happened  in  the  month  of  Boedromion, 
in  which  to  this  very  day  the  Athenians  celebrate  the 
Feast  Boedromia.     Clidemus,  desirous  to  be  very  circum- 

*  Hermou,  genitive  ca.se  of  Hermes,  instead  of  H^rmou,  that  of  Hermus- 


28  thesp:us. 

Btantial,  writes  that  the  left  wing  of  the  Amazons  moved 
towards  the  place  which  is  yet  called  Amazonium  and 
the  right  towards  the  Pnyx,  near  Chrysa  *  that  with  this 
wing  the  Athenians,  issuing  from  behind  the  Museum, 
engaged,  and  that  the  graves  of  those  that  were  slain 
are  to  be  seen  in  the  street  that  leads  to  the  gate  called 
the  Piraic,  by  the  chapel  of  the  hero  Chalcodon ;  and 
that  here  the  Athenians  were  routed,  and  gave  way  be- 
fore the  women,  as  far  as  to  the  temple  of  the  Furies, 
but,  fresh  supplies  coming  in  from  the  Palladium,  Ardet- 
tus,  and  the  Lyceum,  they  charged  their  right  wing,  and 
beat  them  back  into  their  tents,  in  which  action  a  great 
number  of  the  Amazons  were  slain.  At  length,  after 
four  months,  a  peace  was  concluded  between  them  by 
the  mediation  of  Hippolyta  (for  so  this  historian  calls  the 
Amazon  whom  Theseus  married,  and  not  Antiope),  though 
others  write  that  she  was  slain  with  a  dart  by  Molpadia, 
while  fighting  by  Theseus's  side,  and  that  the  pillar  which 
stands  by  the  temple  of  Olympian  Earth  was  erected  to 
her  honor.  Nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  in  events  of 
such  antiquity,  history  should  be  in  disorder.  For  indeed 
we  are  also  told  that  those  of  the  Amazons  that  were 
wounded  were  privately  sent  away  by  Antiope  to  Chalcis, 
where  many  by  her  care  recovered,  but  some  that  died 
were  buried  there  in  the  place  that  is  to  this  time  called 
Amazonium.  That  this  war,  however,  was  ended  by  a 
treaty  is  evident,  both  from  the  name  of  the  place  ad- 
joining to  the  temple  of  Theseus,  called,  from  the  solemn 
oath  there  taken,  Horcomosium ;  f  and  also  from  the 
ancient  sacrifice  which  used  to  be  celebrated  to  the  Ama- 
zons the  day  before  the  Feast  of  Theseus.  The  Mega- 
rians  also  show  a  spot  in  their  city  where  some  Amazons 
were  buried,  on  the  way  from  the  market  to  a  place  called 

*  Or  near  the  golden  figure  of        f  Ilorcos.  oath  ;  omosai,  to  swear. 
Victory. 


tiiesp:us.  29 

Rhus,  where  the  building  in  the  shape  of  a  lozenge  stands. 
It  is  said,  likewise,  that  others  of  them  were  slain  near 
Chaeronea,  and  buried  near  the  little  rivulet,  formerly 
called  Thermodon,  but  now  Harmon,  of  which  an  account 
is  given  in  the  life  of  Demosthenes.  It  appears  further 
that  the  passage  of  the  Amazons  through  Thessaly  was 
not  without  opposition,  for  there  are  yet  shown  many 
tombs  of  them  near  Scotussa  and  Cynoscephalfe. 

This  is  as  much  as  is  worth  telling  concerning  the 
Amazons.  For  the  account  which  the  author  of  the  poem 
called  the  Theseid  gives  of  this  rising  of  the  Amazons,  how 
Antiope,  to  revenge  herself  upon  Theseus  for  refusing 
her  and  marrjdng  Phaedra,  came  do^vn  upon  the  cit}'^ 
with  her  train  of  Amazons,  whom  Hercules  slew,  is  mani- 
festly nothing  else  but  fable  and  Jiivention.  It  is  true, 
indeed,  that  Theseus  married  Phaidra,  but  that  w\as  after 
the  death  of  Antiope,  by  whom  he  had  a  son  called  Hip- 
polytus,  or,  as  Pindar  writes,  Demophon.  The  calamities 
which  befell  Phaedra  and  this  son,  since  none  of  the  histo- 
rians have  contradicted  the  tragic  poets  that  have  written 
of  them,  we  must  suppose  happened  as  represented  uni- 
formly by  them. 

There  are  also  other  traditions  of  the  marriages  of 
Theseus,  neither  honorable  in  their  occasions  nor  fortu- 
nate in  their  events,  which  3^et  were  never  represented  in 
the  Greek  plays.  For  he  is  said  to  have  carried  off  Anaxo, 
a  Troezenian,  and,  having  slain  Sinnis  and  Cercyon,  to  have 
ravished  their  daughters ;  to  have  married  Periboea.,  the 
mother  of  Ajax,  and  then  Phereboea,  and  then  lope,  the 
daughter  of  Iphicles.  And  further,  he  is  accused  of  desert- 
ing Ariadne  (as  is  before  related),  being  in  love  with  ^gle 
the  daughter  of  Panopeus,  neither  justly  nor  honorably ; 
and  lastly,  of  the  rape  of  Helen,  which  filled  all  Attica 
with  war  and  blood,  and  was  in  the  end  the  occasion  of 
his  banishment  and  death,  as  will  presently  be  related. 


30  THESEUS. 

Herodorus  is  of  opinion,  that  though  there  were  many 
famous  expeditions  undertaken  by  the  bravest  men  of 
his  time,  yet  Theseus  never  joined  in  any  of  them,  once 
only  excepted,  with  the  Lapithae,  in  their  war  against  the 
Centaurs ;  but  others  say  that  he  accompanied  Jason  to 
Colchis  and  Meleager  to  the  slaying  of  the  Calydonian 
boar,  and  that  hence  it  came  to  be  a  proverb,  Not  ivith- 
md  Thesem ;  that  he  himself,  however,  without  aid  of 
any  one,  performed  many  glorious  exploits,  and  that  from 
him  began  the  saying.  He  i8  a  second  Hercules.  He 
also  joined  Adrastus  in  recovering  the  bodies  of  those 
that  were  slain  before  Thebes,  but  not  as  Euripides  in 
his  tragedy  says,  by  force  of  arms,  but  by  persuasion  and 
mutual  agreement  and  composition,  for  so  the  greater 
part  of  the  historians  write  ;  Philochorus  adds  further 
that  this  was  the  first  treaty  that  ever  was  made  for  the 
recovering  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  but  in  the  history  of 
Hercules  it  is  shown  that  it  was  he  who  first  gave  leave 
to  his  enemies  to  carry  off  their  slain.  The  burying- 
places  of  the  most  part  are  yet  to  be  seen  in  the  village 
called  EleutheraB ;  those  of  the  commanders,  at  Eleusis, 
where  Theseus  allotted  them  a  place,  to  oblige  Adrastus. 
The  story  of  Euripides  in  his  Suppliants  is  disproved  by 
iEschylus  in  his  Eleusinians,  where  Theseus  himself  re- 
lates the  facts  as  here  told. 

The  celebrated  friendship  between  Theseus  and  Piri- 
thous  is  said  to  have  been  thus  begun :  the  fame  of  the 
strength  and  valor  of  Theseus  being  spread  through 
Greece,  Pirithoiis  was  desirous  to  make  a  trial  and  proof 
of  it  himself,  and  to  this  end  seized  a  herd  of  oxen  which 
belonged  to  Theseus,  and  was  driving  them  away  from 
Marathon,  and,  when  news  was  brought  that  Theseus 
pursued  him  in  arms,  he  did  not  fly,  but  turned  back  and 
went  to  meet  him.  But  as  soon  as  they  had  viewed  one 
another,  each  so  admired  the  gracefulness   and  beauty, 


Mekager  and  Atalanta. 

From  the  'painihuf  hy  Petn-  PnuJ  Tiulit'tts 


THESEUS.  31 

and  was  seized  with  such  a  respect  for  the  courage,  of  the 
other,  that  they  forgot  all  thoughts  of  fighting;  and 
PirithoUs,  first  stretching  out  his  hand  to  Theseus,  bade 
him  be  judge  in  this  case  himself,  and  promised  to  sub- 
mit willingly  to  any  penalty  he  should  impose.  But 
Theseus  not  only  forgave  him  all,  but  entreated  him  to 
be  his  friend  and  brother  in  arms ;  and  they  ratified  their 
friendship  by  oaths.  After  this  PirithoUs  married  Deida- 
mia,  and  invited  Theseus  to  the  wedding,  entreating  him 
to  come  and  see  his  country,  and  make  acquaintance  with 
the  Lapithae ;  he  had  at  the  same  time  invited  the  Cen- 
taurs to  the  feast,  who  growing  hot  with  wine  and  be- 
ginning to  be  insolent  and  wild,  and  offermg  violence  to 
the  women,  the  Lapithae  took  immediate  revenge  upon 
them,  slaying  many  of  them  upon  the  place,  and  after- 
wards, having  overcome  them  in  battle,  drove  the  whole 
race  of  them  out  of  their  country,  Theseus  all  along 
taking  their  part  and  fighting  on  their  side.  But  Hero- 
dorus  gives  a  different  relation  of  these  things :  that 
Theseus  came  not  to  the  assistance  of  the  LapithaB  till 
the  war  was  already  begun ;  and  that  it  was  in  this  jour- 
ney that  he  had  the  first  sight  of  Hercules,  having  made 
it  his  business  to  find  him  out  at  Trachis,  where  he  had 
chosen  to  rest  himself  after  all  his  wanderings  and  his  la- 
bors J  and  that  this  interview  was  honorably  perform.ed  on 
each  part,  with  extreme  respect,  good-will,  and  admiration 
of  each  other.  Yet  it  is  more  credible,  as  others  write,  that 
there  were,  before,  frequent  interviews  between  them,  and 
that  it  was  by  the  means  of  Theseus  that  Hercules  was 
initiated  at  Eleusis,  and  purified  before  initiation,  upon 
account  of  several  rash  actions  of  his  former  life. 

Theseus  was  now  fifty  years  old,  as  Hellanicus  states, 
when  he  carried  off  Helen,  who  was  yet  too  young  to  be 
married.  Some  writers,  to  take  away  this  accusation  of 
one  of  the  greatest  crimes  laid  to  his  charge,  say,  that  he 


32  THESEUS. 

did  not  steal  away  Helen  himself,  but  that  Idas  and  Lyn- 
ceus  were  the  ravishers,  who  brought  her  to  him,  and 
committed  her  to  his  charge,  and  that,  therefore,  he  re- 
fused to  restore  her  at  the  demand  of  Castor  and  Pollux ; 
or,  indeed,  they  say  her  own  father,  Tyndarus,  had  sent 
her  to  be  kept  by  him,  for  fear  of  Enarophorus,  the  son 
of  Ilippocoon,  who  would  have  carried  her  away  by  force 
when  she  was  yet  a  child.  But  the  most  probable  account, 
and  that  which  has  most  witnesses  on  its  side,  is  this: 
Theseus  and  Pirithoiis  went  both  together  to  Sparta,  and, 
having  seized  the  young  lady  as  she  was  dancing  in  the 
temple  of  Diana  Orthia,  Hed  away  with  her.  There  were 
presently  men  in  arms  sent  to  pursue,  but  they  followed 
no  further  than  to  Tegea ;  and  Theseus  and  Pirithoiis, 
being  now  out  of  danger,  having  passed  through  Pelopon- 
nesus, made  an  agreement  between  themselves,  that  he 
to  whom  the  lot  should  fall  should  have  Helen  to  his 
wife,  but  should  be  obliged  to  assist  in  procuring  another 
for  his  friend.  The  lot  fell  upon  Theseus,  who  conveyed 
her  to  Aphidnse,  not  being  yet  marriageable,  and  deli- 
vered her  to  one  of  his  allies,  called  Aphidnus,  and,  having 
sent  his  mother  ^thra  after  to  take  care  of  her,  desired 
him  to  keep  them  so  secretly,  that  none  might  know 
where  they  were ;  which  done,  to  return  the  same  service 
to  his  friend  Pirithoiis,  he  accompanied  him  in  his  jour- 
ney to  Epirus,  in  order  to  steal  away  the  king  of  the 
Molossians'  daughter.  The  king,  his  own  name  being 
Aidoneus,  or  Pluto,  called  his  wife  Proserpina,  and  his 
daughter  Cora,  and  a  great  dog  which  he  kept  Cerberus, 
with  whom  he  ordered  all  that  came  as  suitors  to  his 
daughter  to  fight,  and  promised  her  to  him  that  should 
overcome  the  beast.  But  having  been  informed  that  the 
design  of  Pirithoiis  and  his  companion  was  not  to  court 
his  daughter,  but  to  force  her  away,  he  caused  them  both 


THESEUS.  33 

to  be  seized,  and  threw  Pirithoiis  to  be  torn  in  pieces  by 
his  dog,  and  put  Theseus  into  prison,  and  kept  him. 

About  this  time,  Menestheus,  the  son  of  Peteus,  grand- 
son of  Orneus,  and  great-grandson  to  Erechtheus,  the  fh'st 
man  that  is  recorded  to  have  affected  popularity  and 
ingratiated  himself  with  the  multitude,  stirred  up  and 
exasperated  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  city,  who  had 
long  borne  a  secret  grudge  to  Theseus,  conceiving  that  he 
had  robbed  them  of  their  several  little  kingdoms  and  lord- 
ships, and,  having  pent  them  all  up  in  one  city,  was  using 
them  as  his  subjects  and  slaves.  He  put  also  the  meaner 
people  into  commotion,  telling  them,  that,  deluded  with  a 
mere  dream  of  liberty,  though  indeed  they  were  deprived 
both  of  that  and  of  their  proper  homes  and  religious 
usages,  instead  of  many  good  and  gracious  kings  of  their 
own,  they  had  given  themselves  up  to  be  lorded  over  by 
a  new-comer  and  a  stranger.  Whilst  he  was  thus  busied 
in  infecting  the  minds  of  the  citizens,  the  war  that  Castor 
and  Pollux  brought  against  Athens  came  very  oppor- 
tunely to  further  the  sedition  he  had  been  promoting,  and 
some  say  that  he  by  his  persuasions  was  wholly  the  cause 
of  their  invading  the  city.  At  their  first  approach,  they 
committed  no  acts  of  hostility,  but  peaceably  demanded 
their  sister  Helen ;  but  the  Athenians  returning  answer 
that  they  neither  had  her  there  nor  knew  w^here  she  was 
disposed  of,  they  prepared  to  assault  the  city,  when  Aca- 
demus,  having,  by  whatever  means,  found  it  out,  disclosed 
to  them  that  she  was  secretly  kept  at  Aphidnae.  For 
which  reason  he  was  both  highly  honored  during  his  life 
by  Castor  and  Pollux,  and  the  Lacedaemonians,  when  of- 
ten in  aftertimes  they  made  incursions  into  Attica,  and  de- 
stroyed all  the  country  round  about,  spared  the  Academy 
for  the  sake  of  Academus.  But  Dicaearchus  writes  that 
there  were  two  Arcadians  in  the  army  of  Castor  and  Pol- 
lux, the  one  called  Echedemus,  and  the  other  Marathus; 

VOL.   I.  3 


34  THESEUS. 

from  the  first  that  which  is  now  called  Academia  was 
then  named  Echedemia,  and  the  village  Marathon  had  its 
name  from  the  other,  who,  to  fulfil  some  oracle,  volun- 
tarily offered  himself  to  be  made  a  sacrifice  before  battle. 
As  soon  as  they  were  arrived  at  Aphidnae,  they  overcame 
their  enemies  in  a  set  battle,  and  then  assaulted  and  took 
the  town.  And  here,  they  say,  Alycus,  the  son  of  Sciron, 
was  slain,  of  the  party  of  the  Dioscuri  (Castor  and  Pol- 
lux), from  whom  a  place  in  Megara,  where  he  was  buried, 
is  called  Alycus  to  this  day.  And  Hereas  writes  that  it 
was  Theseus  himself  that  killed  him,  in  witness  of  which 
he  cites  these  verses  concerning  Alycus, 

And  Alycus,  upon  Aphidna's  plain 

By  Theseus  in  the  cause  of  Helen  slain. 

Though  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that  Theseus  himself  was 
there  when  both  the  city  and  his  mother  were  taken. 

Aphidnse  being  won  by  Castor  and  Pollux,  and  the  city 
of  Athens  being  in  consternation,  Menestheus  persuaded 
the  people  to  open  their  gates,  and  receive  them  with  all 
manner  of  friendship,  for  they  were,  he  told  them,  at 
enmity  wdth  none  but  Theseus,  who  had  first  injured 
them,  and  were  benefactors  and  saviors  to  all  mankind 
beside.  And  their  behavior  gave  credit  to  those  promises; 
for,  having  made  themselves  absolute  masters  of  the  place, 
they  demanded  no  more  than  to  be  initiated,  since  they 
were  as  nearly  related  to  the  city  as  Hercules  was,  who 
had  received  the  same  honor.  This  their  desire  they 
easily  obtained,  and  were  adopted  by  Aphidnus,  as  Her- 
cules had  been  by  Pylius.  They  were  honored  also  like 
gods,  and  were  called  by  a  new  name,  Anaces,  either  from 
the  cessation  *  of  the  war,  or  from  the  care  they  took  that 
none  should  sufler  any  injury,  though  there  was  so  great 
an  army  within  the  walls ;  for  the  phrase  andkos  ekhein  is 

*  An5khe. 


THESEUS.  35 

used  of  those  who  look  to  or  care  for  any  thing ;  kings 
for  this  reason,  perhaps,  are  called  anacles.  Others  say, 
that  from  the  appearance  of  their  star  in  the  heavens, 
they  were  thus  called,  for  in  the  Attic  dialect  this  name 
comes  very  near  the  words  that  signify  ahove:^ 

Some  say  that  ^thra,  Theseus's  mother,  was  here 
taken  prisoner,  and  carried  to  Lacedasmon,  and  from 
thence  went  away  with  Helen  to  Troy,  alleging  this  verse 
of  Homer,  to  prove  that  she  waited  upon  Helen, 

^thra  of  Pittheus  bom,  and  large-eyed  Clymene. 

Others  reject  this  verse  as  none  of  Homer's,  as  they  do 
likewise  the  whole  fable  of  Munychus,  who.  the  story  saj^s, 
was  the  son  of  Demophon  and  Laodice,  born  secretly, 
and  brought  up  by  ^thra  at  Troy.  But  Ister,  in  the 
thirteenth  book  of  his  Attic  History,  gives  us  an  account 
of  ^Sthra,  different  yet  from  all  the  rest :  that  Achilles 
and  Patroclus  overcame  Paris  in  Thessaly,  near  the  river 
Sperchius,  but  that  Hector  took  and  plundered  the  city  of 
the  Troezenians,  and  made  ^Ethra  prisoner  there.  But 
this  seems  a  groundless  tale. 

Now  Hercules,  passing  by  the  Molossians,  was  enter- 
tained in  his  way  by  Aidoneus  the  king,  who,  in  conver- 
sation, accidentally  spoke  of  the  journey  of  Theseus  and 
Pirithoiis  into  his  country,  of  what  they  had  designed  to 
do,  and  what  they  were  forced  to  suffer.  Hercules  was 
much  grieved  for  the  inglorious  death  of  the  one  and  the 
miserable  condition  of  the  other.  As  for  Pirithoiis,  he 
thought  it  useless  to  complain ;  but  begged  to  have  The- 
seus released  for  his  sake,  and  obtained  that  favor  from 
the  king.  Theseus,  being  thus  set  at  liberty,  returned  to 
Athens,  where  his  friends  were  not  yet  wholly  suppressed, 
and  dedicated  to  Hercules  all  the  sacred  places  which  the 
city  had  set  apart  for  himself,  changing  their  names  from 

*  Anekas,  anecathen. 


36  THESEUS. 

Thesea  to  Heraclea,  four  only  excepted,  as  Philochorus 
writes.  And  wishing  immediately  to  resume  the  first 
place  in  the  commonwealth,  and  manage  the  state  as  be- 
fore, he  soon  found  himself  involved  in  factions  and 
troubles ;  those  who  long  had  hated  him  had  now  added 
to  their  hatred  contempt ;  and  the  minds  of  the  people 
were  so  generally  corrupted,  that,  instead  of  obeying 
commands  with  silence,  they  expected  to  be  flattered  into 
their  dut}^  He  had  some  thoughts  to  have  reduced  them 
by  force,  but  was  overpowered  by  demagogues  and  fac- 
tions. And  at  last,  despairing  of  any  good  success  of  his 
affairs  in  Athens,  he  sent  away  his  children  privately  to 
Euboea,  commending  them  to  the  care  of  Elephenor,  the 
son  of  Chalcodon  ;  and  he  himself,  having  solemnly  cursed 
the  people  of  Athens  in  the  village  of  Gargettus,  in  which 
there  yet  remains  the  place  called  Araterion,  or  the  place 
of  cursing,  sailed  to  Scyros,  where  he  had  lands  left  him 
by  his  father,  and  friendship,  as  he  thought,  with  those  of 
the  island.  Lycomedes  was  then  king  of  Scyros.  The- 
seus, therefore,  addressed  himself  to  him,  and  desired  to 
have  his  lands  put  into  his  possession,  as  designing  to 
settle  and  to  dwell  there,  though  others  say  that  he  came 
to  beg  his  assistance  against  the  Athenians.  But  Lyco- 
medes, either  jealous  of  the  glory  of  so  great  a  man,  or 
to  gratify  Menestheus,  having  led  him  up  to  the  highest 
cliff  of  the  island,  on  pretence  of  showing  him  from  thence 
the  lands  that  he  desired,  threw  him  headlong  down 
from  the  rock,  and  killed  him.  Others  say  he  fell  down 
of  himself  by  a  slip  of  his  foot,  as  he  was  walking  there, 
according  to  his  custom,  after  supper.  At  that  time  there 
was  no  notice  taken,  nor  were  any  concerned  for  his 
death,  but  Menestheus  quietly  possessed  the  kingdom  of 
Athens.  His  sons  were  brought  up  in  a  private  condition, 
and  accompanied  Elephenor  to  the  Trojan  war,  but,  after 
the  decease  of  Menestheus  in  that  expedition,  returned  to 


THESEUS.  37 

Mhens,  and  recovered  the  government  But  in  succeed- 
ing ages,  beside  several  other  circumstances  that  moved 
the  Athenians  to  honor  Theseus  as  a  demigod,  in  the 
battle  which  was  fought  at  Marathon  against  the  Medes, 
many  of  the  soldiers  believed  they  saw  an  apparition  of 
Theseus  in  arms,  rushing  on  at  the  head  of  them  against 
the  barbarians.  And  after  the  Median  war,  Phaedo  bein«" 
archon  of  Athens,  the  Athenians,  consulting  the  oracle  at 
Delphi,  were  commanded  to  gather  together  the  bones  of 
Theseus,  and,  laying  them  in  some  honorable  place,  keep 
them  as  sacred  in  the  city.  But  it  was  very  difficult  to 
recover  these  relics,  or  so  much  as  to  find  out  the  place 
where  they  lay,  on  account  of  the  inhospitable  and  savage 
temper  of  the  barbarous  people  that  inhabited  the  island. 
Nevertheless,  afterwards,  when  Cimon  took  the  island  (as 
is  related  in  his  life),  and  had  a  great  ambition  to  find  out 
the  place  where  Theseus  was  buried,  he,  by  chance,  spied 
an  eagle  upon  a  rising  ground  pecking  with  her  beak 
and  tearing  up  the  earth  with  her  talons,  when  on  the 
sudden  it  came  into  his  mind,  as  it  were  by  some  divine 
inspiration,  to  dig  there,  and  search  for  the  bones  of  The- 
seus. There  were  found  in  that  place  a  coffin  of  a  man  of 
more  than  ordinary  size,  and  a  brazen  spear-head,  and  a 
sword  lying  by  it,  all  which  he  took  aboard  his  galley 
and  brought  with  him  to  Athens.  Upon  which  the  Athe- 
nians, greatly  delighted,  w^ent  out  to  meet  and  receive 
the  relics  with  splendid  processions  and  with  sacrifices,  as 
if  it  were  Theseus  himself  returning  alive  to  the  city.  He 
lies  interred  in  the  middle  of  the  city,  near  the  present 
gymnasium.  His  tomb  is  a  sanctuary  and  refuge  for  slaves, 
and  all  those  of  mean  condition  that  fly  from  the  perse- 
cution of  men  in  power,  in  memory  that  Theseus  while 
he  lived  was  an  assister  and  protector  of  the  distressed, 
and  never  refused  the  petitions  of  the  afflicted  that  fled 
to  him.     The  chief  and  most  solemn  sacrifice  which  they 


38  THESEUS. 

celebrate  to  him  is  kept  on  the  eighth  day  of  Pyanepsion, 
on  which  he  returned  with  the  Athenian  young  men  from 
Crete.  Besides  which,  they  sacrifice  to  him  on  the  eighth 
day  of  every  month,  either  because  he  returned  from 
Troezen  the  eighth  day  of  Hecatombaeon,  as  Diodorus  the 
geographer  writes,  or  else  thinking  that  number  to  be 
proper  to  him,  because  he  was  reputed  to  be  born  of  Nep- 
tune, because  they  sacrifice  to  Neptune  on  the  eighth 
day  of  every  month.  The  number  eight  being  the  first 
cube  of  an  even  number,  and  the  double  of  the  first 
square,  seemed  to  be  an  emblem  of  the  steadfast  and  im- 
movable power  of  this  god,  who  from  thence  has  the 
names  of  Asphalius  and  Gseiochus,  that  is,  the  establisher 
and  stayer  of  the  earth. 


ROMULUS. 


From  whom,  and  for  what  reason,  the  city  of  Rome, 
a  name  so  great  hi  glory,  and  famous  in  the  mouths  of 
all  men,  was  so  first  called,  authors  do  not  agree.  Some 
are  of  opinion  that  the  Pelasgians,  wandering  over  the 
greater  part  of  the  habitable  world,  and  subduing  nu- 
merous nations,  fixed  themselves  here,  and,  from  their 
own  great  strength  *  in  war,  called  the  city  Rome.  Others, 
that  at  the  taking  of  Troy,  some  few  that  escaped  and 
met  with  shipping,  put  to  sea,  and,  driven  by  winds, 
were  carried  upon  the  coasts  of  Tuscany,  and  came  to 
anchor  off  the  mouth  of  the  river  Tiber,  where  their 
women,  out  of  heart  and  weary  with  the  sea,  on  its  being 
proposed  by  one  of  the  highest  birth  and  best  under- 
standing amongst  them,  whose  name  was  Roma,  burnt 
the  ships.  With  which  act  the  men  at  first  were  angry, 
but  afterwards,  of  necessity,  seating  themselves  near 
Palatium,  where  things  in  a  short  while  succeeded  far 
better  than  they  could  hope,  in  that  they  foimd  the 
country  very  good,  and  the  people  courteous,  they  not 
only  did  the  lady  Roma  other  honors,  but  added  also 
this,  of  calling  after  her  name  the  city  which  she  had 
been  the  occasion  of  their  founding.  From  this,  they 
say,  has  come  down  that  custom  at  Rome  for  women  to 

*  Rome,  strength. 

(89) 


40  ROMULUS. 

salute  their  kinsmen  and  husbands  with  kisses ;  because 
these  women,  after  they  had  burnt  the  ships,  made  use 
of  such  endearments  when  entreating  and  pacifying  their 
husbands. 

Some  again  say  that  Roma,  from  whom  this  city  was 
so  called,  was  daughter  of  Italus  and  Leucaria;  or,  by 
another  account,  of  Telephus,  Hercules's  son,  and  that 
she  was  married  to  ^neas,  or,  according  to  others  again, 
to  Ascanius,  ^neas's  son.  Some  tell  us  that  Romanus, 
the  son  of  Ulysses  and  Circe,  built  it ;  some,  Romus,  the 
son  of  Emathion,  Diomede  having  sent  him  from  Troy ; 
and  others,  Romus,  king  of  the  Latins,  after  driving  out 
the  Tyrrhenians,  who  had  come  from  Thessaly  into  Lydia, 
and  from  thence  into  Italy.  Those  very  authors,  too, 
who,  in  accordance  with  the  safest  account,  make  Ro- 
mulus give  the  name  to  the  city,  yet  differ  concerning 
his  birth  and  family.  For  some  say,  he  was  son  to  -^neas 
and  Dexithea,  daughter  of  Phorbas,  and  was,  with  his 
brother  Remus,  in  their  infancy,  carried  into  Italy,  and 
being  on  the  river  when  the  waters  came  down  in  a  flood, 
all  the  vessels  were  cast  away  except  only  that  where 
the  young  children  were,  which  being  gently  landed  on 
a  level  bank  of  the  river,  they  were  both  unexpectedly 
saved,  and  from  them  the  place  was  called  Rome.  Some 
say,  Roma,  daughter  of  the  Trojan  lady  above  mentioned, 
was  married  to  Latinus,  Telemachus's  son,  and  became  mo- 
ther to  Romulus ;  others,  that  Emilia,  daughter  of  j^neas 
and  Lavinia,  had  him  by  the  god  Mars ;  and  others  give 
you  mere  fiibles  of  his  origin.  For  to  Tarchetius,  they 
say,  king  of  Alba,  who  was  a  most  wicked  and  cruel  man, 
there  appeared  in  his  own  house  a  strange  vision,  a  male 
figure  that  rose  out  of  a  hearth,  and  stayed  there  for 
many  days.  There  was  an  oracle  of  Tethys  in  Tuscany 
which  Tarchetius  consulted,  and  received  an  answer  that 
a  virgin  should  give  herself  to  the  apparition,  and  that  a 


ROMULUS.  41 

son  should  be  born  of  her,  highly  renowned,  eminent  for 
valor,  good  fortune,  and  strength  of  body.  Tarchetius 
told  the  prophecy  to  one  of  his  own  daughters,  and  com- 
manded her  to  do  this  thing ;  which  she  avoiding  as  an 
indignity,  sent  her  handmaid.  Tarchetius,  hearing  this, 
in  great  anger  imprisoned  them  both,  purposing  to  put 
them  to  death ;  but  being  deterred  from  murder  by  the 
goddess  Vesta  in  a  dream,  enjoined  them  for  their  pun- 
ishment the  working  a  web  of  cloth,  in  their  chains  as 
they  were,  which  when  they  finished,  they  should  be 
sufiered  to  marry  :  but  whatever  they  worked  by  day, 
Tarchetius  commanded  others  to  unravel  in  the  night. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  waiting-woman  was  delivered  of  two 
boys,  whom  Tarchetius  gave  into  the  hands  of  one  Tera- 
tius,  with  command  to  destroy  them ;  he,  however,  carried 
and  laid  them  by  the  river  side,  where  a  wolf  came  and 
continued  to  suckle  them,  while  birds  of  various  sorts 
brought  little  morsels  of  food,  which,  they  put  into  their 
mouths ;  till  a  cow-herd,  spying  them,  was  first  strangely 
surprised,  but,  venturing  to  draw  nearer,  took  the  children 
up  in  his  arms.  Thus  they  were  saved,  and,  when  they 
grew  up,  set  upon  Tarchetius  and  overcame  him.  This 
one  Promathion  says,  who  compiled  a  history  of  Italy. 

But  the  story  which  is  most  believed  and  has  the 
greatest  number  of  vouchers  was  first  published,  in 
its  chief  particulars,  amongst  the  Greeks  by  Diodes  of 
Peparethus,  whom  Fabius  Pictor  also  follows  in  most 
points.  Here  again  there  are  variations,  but  in  gene- 
ral outline  it  runs  thus :  the  kings  of  Alba  reigned  in 
lineal  descent  from  ^neas,  and  the  succession  devolved 
at  length  upon  two  brothers,  Numitor  and  Amulius. 
Amulius  proposed  to  divide  things  into  two  equal  shares, 
and  set  as  equivalent  to  the  kingdom  the  treasure  and 
gold  that  were  brought  from  Troy.  Numitor  chose  the 
kingdom ;  but  Amulius,  having    the   money,  and   being 


42  ROMULUS. 

able  to  do  more  with  that  thaD  Numitor,  took  his  king- 
dom from  him  with  great  ease,  and,  fearing  lest  his  daugh- 
ter might  have  children,  made  her  a  Vestal,  bound  in 
that  condition  forever  to  live  a  single  and  maiden  life. 
This  lady  some  call  Ilia,  others  Rhea,  and  others  Silvia ; 
however,  not  long  after,  she  was,  contrary  to  the  esta- 
blished laws  of  the  Vestals,  discovered  to  be  with  child, 
and  should  have  suffered  the  most  cruel  punishment,  had 
not  Antho,  the  king's  daughter,  mediated  with  her  father 
for  her ;  nevertheless,  she  was  confined,  and  debarred  all 
company,  that  she  might  not  be  delivered  without  the 
king's  knowledge.  In  time  she  brought  forth  two  boys, 
of  more  than  human  size  and  beauty,  whom  Amulius, 
becoming  yet  more  alarmed,  commanded  a  servant  to 
take  and  cast  away ;  this  man  some  call  Faustulus, 
others  say  Faustulus  was  the  man  who  brought  them  up. 
He  put  the  children,  however,  in  a  small  trough,  and 
went  towards  the  river  with  a  design  to  cast  them  in ; 
but,  seeing  the  waters  much  swollen  and  coming  violently 
down,  was  afraid  to  go  nearer,  and,  dropping  the  children 
near  the  bank,  went  away.  The  river  overflowing,  the 
flood  at  last  bore  up  the  trough,  and,  gently  wafting  it, 
landed  them  on  a  smooth  piece  of  ground,  which  they 
now  call  Cermanus/'^  formerly  Germanus,  perhaps  from 
Germam,  which  signifies  brothers. 

Near  this  place  grew  a  wild  fig-tree,  which  they  called 
Ruminalis,  either  from  Romulus  (as  it  is  vulgarly  thought), 
or  from  ruminating,  because  cattle  did  usually  in  the 
heat  of  the  day  seek  cover  under  it,  and  there  chew  the 
cud  ;  or,  better,  from  the  suckling  of  these  children  there, 
for  the  ancients  called  the  dug  or  teat  of  any  creature 
ruma;  and  there  is  a  tutelar  goddess  of  the  rearing  of 
children  whom  they  still  call  Rumilia,  in  sacrificing  to 
whom  they  \ise  no  wine,  but  make  libations  of  milk. 

*  More  correctly  Cermalus. 


ROMULUS.  43 

While  the  infants  lay  here,  history  tells  us,  a  she-wolf 
nursed  them,  and  a  woodpecker  constantly  fed  and 
watched  them ;  these  creatures  are  esteemed  holy  to  the 
god  Mars,  the  woodpecker  the  Latins  still  especially  wor- 
ship and  honor.  Which  things,  as  much  as  any,  gave 
credit  to  what  the  mother  of  the  children  said,  that  their 
father  was  the  god  Mars :  though  some  say  that  it  was  a 
mistake  put  upon  her  by  Amulius,  who  himself  had  come 
to  her  dressed  up  in  armor. 

Others  think  that  the  first  rise  of  this  fable  came  from 
the  children's  nurse,  through  the  ambiguity  of  her  name ; 
for  the  Latins  not  only  called  wolves  lufpce^  but  also 
women  of  loose  life ;  and  such  an  one  was  the  wife  of 
Faustulus,  who  nurtured  these  children,  Acca  Larentia 
by  name.  To  her  the  Romans  offer  sacrifices,  and  in  the 
month  of  April  the  priest  of  Mars  makes  libations  there; 
it  is  called  the  Larentian  Feast.  They  honor  also  another 
Larentia,  for  the  following  reason  :  the  keeper  of  Her- 
cules's  temple  having,  it  seems,  little  else  to  do,  pro- 
posed to  his  deity  a  game  at  dice,  laying  down  that, 
if  he  himself  won,  he  would  have  something  valuable 
of  the  god ;  but  if  he  were  beaten,  he  would  spread 
him  a  noble  table,  and  procure  him  a  fair  lady's  com- 
pany. Upon  these  terms,  throwing  first  for  the  god 
and  then  for  himself,  he  found  himself  beaten.  Wish- 
ing to  pay  his  stakes  honorably,  and  holding  himself 
bound  by  what  he  had  said,  he  both  provided  the  deity 
a  good  supper,  and,  giving  money  to  Larentia,  then 
in  her  beauty,  though  not  publicly  known,  gave  her  a 
feast  in  the  temple,  where  he  had  also  laid  a  bed,  and 
after  supper  locked  her  in,  as  if  the  god  were  really  to 
come  to  her.  And  indeed,  it  is  said,  the  deity  did  truly 
visit  her,  and  commanded  her  in  the  morning  to  walk  to 
the  market-place,  and,  whatever  man  sne  met  first,  to  sa- 
lute him,  and  make  him  her  friend.     She  met  one  named 


44  ROMULUS. 

Tarrutius,  who  was  a  man  advanced  in  years,  fairly  rich, 
without  children,  and  had  always  lived  a  single  life.  He 
received  Larentia,  and  loved  her  well,  and  at  his  death 
left  her  sole  heir  of  all  his  large  and  fair  possessions,  most 
of  which  she,  in  her  last  will  and  testament,  bequeathed 
to  the  people.  It  was  reported  of  her,  being  now  cele- 
brated and  esteemed  the  mistress  of  a  god,  that  she  sud- 
denly disappeared  near  the  place  where  the  first  Larentia 
lay  buried ;  the  spot  is  at  this  day  called  Velabrum, 
because,  the  river  frequently  overflowing,  they  went  over 
in  ferry-boats  somewhere  hereabouts  to  the  forum,  the 
Latin  word  for  ferrying  being  velatura.  Others  derive 
the  name  from  velum,  a  sail ;  because  the  exhibitors  of 
public  shows  used  to  hang  the  road  that  leads  from  the 
forum  to  the  Circus  Maximus  with  sails,  beginning  at 
this  spot.  Upon  these  accounts  the  second  Larentia 
is  honored  at  Rome. 

Meantime  Faustulus,  Amulius's  swineherd,  brought  up 
the  children  without  any  man's  knowledge ;  or,  as  those 
say  who  wish  to  keep  closer  to  probabiHties,  with  the 
knowledge  and  secret  assistance  of  Numitor;  for  it  is 
said,  they  went  to  school  at  Gabii,  and  were  well  in- 
structed in  letters,  and  other  accomplishments  befitting 
their  birth.  And  they  were  called  Romulus  and  Remus, 
(from  ruma,  the  dug,)  as  we  had  before,  because  they  were 
found  sucking  the  wolf  In  their  very  infancy,  the  size 
and  beauty  of  their  bodies  intimated  their  natural  supe- 
riority ;  and  when  they  grew  up,  they  both  proved  brave 
and  manly,  attempting  all  enterprises  that  seemed  hazard- 
ous, and  showing  in  them  a  courage  altogether  undaunted. 
But  Romulus  seemed  rather  to  act  by  counsel,  and  to 
show  the  sagacity  of  a  statesman,  and  in  aU  his  dealings 
with  their  neighbors,  whether  relating  to  feeding  of  flocks 
or  to  hunting,  gave  the  idea  of  being  born  rather  to  rule 
than  to  obey.    To  their  comrades  and  inferiors  they  were 


ROMULUS.  45 

therefore  dear ;  but  the  king's  servants,  his  bailiffs  and 
overseers,  as  being  in  nothing  better  men  than  them- 
selves, they  despised  and  slighted,  nor  were  the  least 
concerned  at  their  commands  and  menaces.  They  used 
honest  pastimes  and  liberal  studies,  not  esteeming  sloth 
and  idleness  honest  and  liberal,  but  rather  such  exercises 
as  hunting  and  running,  repelling  robbers,  taking  of 
thieves,  and  delivering  the  wronged  and  oppressed  from 
injury.     For  doing  such  things  they  became  famous. 

A  quarrel  occurring  betwixt  Numitor's  and  Amulius's 
cowherds,  the  latter,  not  enduring  the  driving  away  of 
their  cattle  by  the  others,  fell  upon  them  and  put  them 
to  flight,  and  rescued  the  greatest  part  of  the  prey.  At 
which  Numitor  being  highly  incensed,  they  little  regard- 
ed it,  but  collected  and  took  into  their  company  a  num- 
ber of  needy  men  and  runaway  slaves,  —  acts  which 
looked  like  the  first  stages  of  rebellion.  It  so  happened, 
that  when  Romulus  was  attending  a  sacrifice,  being  fond 
of  sacred  rites  and  divination,  Numitor's  herdsmen,  meet- 
ing with  Remus  on  a  journey  with  few  companions,  fell 
upon  him,  and,  after  some  fighting,  took  him  prisoner, 
carried  him  before  Numitor,  and  there  accused  him. 
Numitor  would  not  punish  him  himself,  fearing  his 
brother's  anger,  but  went  to  Amulius,  and  desired  justice, 
as  he  was  Amulius's  brother  and  was  affronted  by  Amu- 
lius's servants.  The  men  of  Alba  likewise  resenting  the 
thing,  and  thinking  he  had  been  dishonorably  used,  Amu- 
lius was  induced  to  deliver  Remus  up  into  Numitor's 
hands,  to  use  him  as  he  thought  fit.  He  therefore  took 
and  carried  him  home,  and,  being  struck  with  admiration 
of  the  youth's  person,  in  stature  and  strength  of  body 
exceeding  all  men,  and  perceiving  in  his  very  counte- 
nance the  courage  and  force  of  his  mind,  which  stood 
unsubdued  and  unmoved  by  his  present  circumstances, 
and  hearing  further  that  all  the  enterprises  and  actions  of 


46  ROMULUS. 

his  life  were  answerable  to  what  he  saw  of  him,  but 
chiefly,  as  it  seemed,  a  divine  influence  aiding  and  direct- 
ing the  first  steps  that  were  to  lead  to  great  results,  out 
of  the  mere  thought  of  his  mind,  and  casually,  as  it 
were,  he  put  his  hand  upon  the  fact,  and,  in  gentle  terms 
and  with  a  kind  aspect,  to  inspire  him  with  confidence 
and  hope,  asked  him  who  he  was,  and  whence  he  was 
derived.  He,  taking  lieart,  spoke  thus :  "  I  will  hide  noth- 
ing from  you,  for  you  seem  to  be  of  a  more  princely 
temper  than  Amulius,  in  that  you  give  a  hearing  and 
examine  before  you  punish,  while  he  condemns  before  the 
cause  is  heard.  Formerly,  then,  we  (for  we  are  twins) 
thought  ourselves  the  sons  of  Faustulus  and  Larentia, 
the  king's  servants ;  but  since  we  have  been  accused  and 
aspersed  with  calumnies,  and  brought  in  peril  of  our  lives 
here  before  you,  we  hear  great  things  of  ourselves,  the 
truth  of  which  my  present  danger  is  likely  to  bring  to 
the  test.  Our  birth  is  said  to  have  been  secret,  our  fos- 
tering and  nurture  in  our  infancy  still  more  strange ;  by 
birds  and  beasts,  to  whom  we  were  cast  out,  we  were  fed, 
by  the  milk  of  a  wolf,  and  the  morsels  of  a  woodpecker, 
as  we  lay  in  a  little  trough  by  the  side  of  the  river.  The 
trough  is  still  in  being,  and  is  preserved,  with  brass 
plates  round  it,  and  an  inscription  in  letters  almost  efiaced, 
which  may  prove  hereafter  unavailing  tokens  to  our  pa- 
rents when  we  are  dead  and  gone."  Numitor,  upon  these 
words,  and  computing  the  dates  by  the  young  man's  looks, 
slighted  not  the  hope  that  flattered  him,  but  considered 
how  to  come  at  his  daughter  privately  (for  she  was  still 
kept  under  restraint),  to  talk  with  her  concerning  these 
matters. 

Faustulus,  hearing  Remus  was  taken  and  delivered  up, 
called  on  Romulus  to  assist  in  his  rescue,  informing  him 
then  plainly  of  the  particulars  of  his  birth,  not  but  he 
had  before  given  hints  of  it,  and  told  as  much  as  an  atten- 


ROMULUS.  47 

tive  man  might  make  no  small  conclusions  from ;  he  him- 
self, full  of  concern  and  fear  of  not  coming  in  time,  took 
the  trough,  and  ran  instantly  to  Numitor ;  but  giving  a 
suspicion  to  some  of  the  king's  sentry  at  his  gate,  and 
being  gazed   upon   by  them  and   perplexed  with   their 
questions,  he  let  it  be  seen  that  he  was  hiding  the  trough 
under  his  cloak.     By  chance  there  was  one  among  them 
who  was  at  the  exposing  of  the  children,  and  was  one 
employed  in  the  office  ;  he,  seeing  the  trough  and  know- 
ing it  by  its  make  and  inscription,  guessed  at  the  business, 
and,  without  further  delay,  telling  the  king  of  it,  brought 
in  the  man  to  be  examined.     Faustulus,  hard  beset,  did 
not  show  himself  altogether  proof  against   terror ;  nor 
yet  was  he  wholly  forced  out  of  all ;  confessed  indeed 
the  children  were  alive,  but  lived,  he  said,  as  shepherds, 
a    great   way   from   Alba;    he    himself    was    going   to 
carry  the  trough  to  Ilia,  who  had  often  greatly  desired  to 
see  and  handle  it,  for  a  confirmation  of  her  hopes  of  her 
children.     As  men  generally  do  who  are  troubled  in  mind 
and  act  either  in  fear  or  passion,  it  so  fell  out  Amulius 
now  did  ;  for  he  sent  in  haste  as  a  messenger,  a  man,  other- 
wise  honestj  and  friendly  to   Numitor,  with  commands 
to  learn  from  Numitor  whether  any  tidings  were  come  to 
him  of  the  children's  being  alive.     He,  coming  and  seeing 
how  little  Remus  wanted  of  being  received  into  the  arms 
and  embraces  of  Numitor,  both  gave  him  surer  confidence 
in  his  hope,  and  advised  them,  with  all  expedition,  to  pro- 
ceed to  action;  himself  too  joining  and  assisting  them, 
and  indeed,  had  they  wished  it,  the  time  would  not  have 
let  them  demur.     For  Romulus  was  now  come  very  near, 
and  many  of  the  citizens,  out  of  fear  and  hatred  of  Amu- 
lius, were  running  out  to  join  him ;  besides,  he  brought 
great  forces  with  him,  divided  into  companies,  each  of  an 
hundred  men,  every  captain  carrying  a  small  bundle  of 
grass  and   shrubs  tied  to  a  pole.     The  Latins  call  such 


48  ROMULUS. 

bundles  manipuli,  and  from  hence  it  is  that  in  their  armies 
still  they  call  their  captains  manipulares.  Remus  rousing 
the  citizens  within  to  revolt,  and  Romulus  making  attacks 
from  without,  the  tyrant,  not  knowing  either  what  to  do, 
or  what  expedient  to  think  of  for  his  security,  in  this  per- 
plexity and  confusion  was  taken  and  put  to  death.  This 
narrative,  for  the  most  part  given  by  Fabius  and  Diodes 
of  Peparethus,  who  seem  to  be  the  earliest  historians  of 
the  foundation  of  Rome,  is  suspected  by  some,  because  of 
its  dramatic  and  fictitious  appearance  ;  but  it  would  not 
wholly  be  disbelieved,  if  men  would  remember  what  a 
poet  fortune  sometimes  shows  herself,  and  consider  that 
the  Roman  power  would  hardly  have  reached  so  high  a 
pitch  without  a  divinely  ordered  origin,  attended  with 
great  and  extraordinary  circumstances. 

Amulius  now  being  dead  and  matters  quietly  disposed, 
the  two  brothers  would  neither  dwell  in  Alba  without 
governing  there,  nor  take  the  government  into  their  own 
hands  during  the  life  of  their  grandfather.  Having 
therefore  delivered  the  dominion  up  into  his  hands,  and 
paid  their  mother  befitting  honor,  they  resolved  to  live 
by  themselves,  and  build  a  city  in  the  same  place  where 
they  were  in  their  infancy  brought  up.  This  seems  the 
most  honorable  reason  for  their  departure ;  though  per- 
haps it  was  necessarj^,  having  such  a  body  of  slaves  and 
fugitives  collected  about  them,  either  to  come  to  nothing 
by  dispersing  them,  or  if  not  so,  then  to  live  with  them 
elsewhere.  For  that  the  inhabitants  of  Alba  did  not 
think  fugitives  worthy  of  being  received  and  incorporated 
as  citizens  among  them  plainly  appears  from  the  matter  of 
the  women,  an  attempt  made  not  wantonly  but  of  ne- 
cessity, because  they  could  not  get  wives  by  good-will. 
For  they  certainly  paid  unusual  respect  and  honor  to 
those  whom  they  thus  forcibly  seized. 

Not  long  after  the  first  foundation  of  the  city,  they 


ROMULUS.  49 

opened  a  sanctuary  of  refuge  for  all  fugitives,  which  they 
called  the  temple  of  the  god  Asylteus,  where  they  received 
and  protected  all,  delivering  none  back,  neither  the  servant 
to  his  master,  the  debtor  to  his  creditor,  nor  the  murderer 
into  the  hands  of  the  magistrate,  saying  it  was  a  privi- 
leged place,  and  they  could  so  maintain  it  by  an  order  of 
the  holy  oracle ;  insomuch  that  the  city  grew  presently 
very  populous,  for,  they  say,  it  consisted  at  first  of  no 
more  than  a  thousand  houses.     But  of  that  hereafter. 

Their  minds  being  fully  bent  upon  building,  there 
arose  presently  a  difference  about  the  place  where. 
Romulus  chose  what  was  called  Roma  Quadrata,  or  the 
Square  Rome,  and  would  have  the  city  there.  Remus 
laid  out  a  piece  of  ground  on  the  Aventine  Mount,  well 
fortified  by  nature,  which  was  from  him  called  Remonium, 
but  now  Rignarium.  Concluding  at  last  to  decide  the 
contest  by  a  divination  from  a  flight  of  birds,  and  placing 
themselves  apart  at  some  distance,  Remus,  they  say, 
saw  six  vultures,  and  Romulus  double  the  number ; 
others  say  Remus  did  truly  see  his  number,  and  that 
Romulus  feigned  his,  but,  when  Remus  came  to  him,  that 
then  he  did,  indeed,  see  twelve.  Hence  it  is  that  the 
Romans,  in  their  divinations  from  birds,  chiefly  regard 
the  vulture,  though  Herodorus  Ponticus  relates  that  Her- 
cules was  always  very  joyful  when  a  vulture  appeared  to 
him  upon  any  action.  For  it  is  a  creature  the  least  hurtful 
of  any,  pernicious  neither  to  corn,  fruit-tree,  nor  cattle ; 
it  preys  only  upon  carrion,  and  never  kills  or  hurts  any 
living  thing ;  and  as  for  birds,  it  touches  not  them,  though 
they  are  dead,  as  being  of  its  own  species,  whereas  eagles, 
owls,  and  hawks  mangle  and  kill  their  own  fellow-crea- 
tures ;  yet,  as  ^schylus  says,  — 

What  bird  is  clean  that  preys  on  fellow  bird  ? 
Besides,  all  other  birds  are,  so  to  say,  never  out  of  our 

VOL.  I.  4 


50  ROMULUS. 

eyes ;  they  let  themselves  be  seen  of  us  continually ;  hut 
a  vulture  is  a  very  rare  sight,  and  you  can  seldom  meet 
with  a  man  that  has  seen  their  young ;  their  rarity  and 
infrequency  has  raised  a  strange  opinion  in  some,  that 
they  come  to  us  from  some  other  world ;  as  soothsayers 
ascribe  a  divine  origination  to  all  things  not  produced 
either  of  nature  or  of  themselves. 

When  Remus  knew  the  cheat,  he  was  much  displeased; 
and  as  Romulus  was  casting  up  a  ditch,  where  he  designed 
the  foundation  of  the  city-wall,  he  turned  some  pieces  of 
the  work  to  ridicule,  and  obstructed  others :  at  last,  as  he 
was  in  contempt  leaping  over  it,  some  say  Romulus  him- 
self struck  him,  others  Celer,  one  of  his  companions ;  he 
fell,  however,  and  in  the  scuffle  Faustulus  also  was  slain, 
and  Plistinus,  who,  being  Faustulus's  brother,  story  tells 
us,  helped  to  bring  up  Romulus.  Celer  upon  this  fled 
instantly  into  Tuscany,  and  from  him  the  Romans  call  all 
men  that  are  swift  of  foot  Celeres ;  and  because  Quintus 
Metellus,  at  his  father's  funeral,  in  a  few  days'  time  gave 
the  people  a  show  of  gladiators,  admiring  his  expedition 
in  getting  it  ready,  they  gave  him  the  name  of  Celer. 

Romulus,  having  buried  his  brother  Remus,  together 
with  his  two  foster-fathers,  on  the  mount  Remonia,  set  to 
building  his  city ;  and  sent  for  men  out  of  Tuscany,  who 
directed  him  by  sacred  usages  and  written  rules  in  all  the 
ceremonies  to  be  observed,  as  in  a  religious  rite.  First, 
they  dug  a  round  trench  about  that  which  is  now  the 
Comitium,  or  Court  of  Assembly,  and  into  it  solemnly 
threw  the  first-fruits  of  all  things  either  good  by  custom 
or  necessary  by  nature ;  lastly,  every  man  taking  a  small 
piece  of  earth  of  the  country  from  whence  he  came,  they 
all  threw  them  in  promiscuously  together.  This  trench 
they  call,  as  they  do  the  heavens,  Mundus;  making 
which  their  centre,  they  described  the  city  in  a  circle 
round  it.     Then  the  founder  fitted  to  a  plough  a  brazen 


ROMULUS.  51 

ploughshare,  and,  yoking  together  a  bull  and  a  cow,  drove 
himself  a  deep  line  or  furrow  round  the  bounds ;  while  the 
business  of  those  that  followed  after  was  to  see  that  what- 
ever earth  was  thrown  up  should  be  turned  all  inwards 
towards  the  city,  and  not  to  let  any  clod  lie  outside.  With 
this  line  they  described  the  wall,  and  called  it,  by  a  contrac- 
tion, Pomoerium,  that  i»,posi  murum,  after  or  beside  the  wall ; 
and  where  they  designed  to  make  a  gate,  there  they  took 
out  the  share,  carried  the  plough  over,  and  left  a  space ; 
for  which  reason  they  consider  the  whole  wall  as  holy, 
except  where  the  gates  are ;  for  had  they  adjudged  them 
also  sacred,  ih^y  could  not,  without  offence  to  religion, 
have  given  free  ingress  and  egress  for  the  necessaries  of 
human  life,  some  of  which  are  in  themselves  unclean. 

As  for  the  day  they  began  to  build  the  city,  it  is  univer- 
sally agreed  to  have  been  the  twenty-first  of  April,  and 
that  day  the  Romans  annually  keep  holy,  calling  it 
their  country's  birth-day.  At  first,  they  say,  they  sa- 
crificed no  living  creature  on  this  day,  thinking  it  fit  to 
preserve  the  feast  of  their  country's  birth-day  pure  and 
without  stain  of  blood.  Yet  before  ever  the  city  was 
built,  there  was  a  feast  of  herdsmen  and  shepherds  kept 
on  this  day,  which  went  by  the  name  of  Palilia.  The 
Roman  and  Greek  months  have  now  little  or  no  agree- 
ment; they  say,  however,  the  day  on  which  Romulus  began 
to  build  was  quite  certainly  the  thirtieth  of  the  month, 
at  which  time  there  was  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  which 
they  conceive  to  be  that  seen  by  Antimachus,  the  Teian 
poet,  in  the  third  year  of  the  sixth  Olympiad.  In  the 
times  of  Varro  the  philosopher,  a  man  deeply  read  in  Ro- 
man history,  lived  one  Tarrutius,  his  familiar  acquain- 
tance, a  good  philosopher  and  mathematician,  and  one, 
too,  that  out  of  curiosity  had  studied  the  way  of  drawing 
schemes  and  tables,  and  was  thought  to  be  a  proficient  in 
the  art;    to  him  Varro  propounded    to   cast   Romulus's 


52  ROMULUS. 

Dativity,  even  to  the  first  day  and  hour,  making  his 
deductions  from  the  several  events  of  the  man's  Hfe  which 
he  should  be  informed  of,  exactly  as  in  working  back  a 
geometrical  problem ;  for  it  belonged,  he  said,  to  the  same 
science  both  to  foretell  a  man's  life  by  knowing  the  time 
of  his  birth,  and  also  to  find  out  his  birth  by  the  know- 
ledge of  his  life.  This  task  Tarrutius  undertook,  and  first 
looking  into  the  actions  and  casualties  of  the  man,  to- 
gether with  the  time  of  his  life  and  manner  of  his  death, 
and  then  comparing  all  these  remarks  together,  he  very 
confidently  and  positively  pronounced  that  Eomulus  was 
conceived  in  his  mother's  womb  the  first  year  of  the 
second  Olympiad,  the  twenty-third  day  of  the  month  the 
^Egyptians  call  Choeac,  and  the  third  hour  after  sunset, 
at  which  time  there  was  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun ;  that 
he  was  born  the  twenty-first  day  of  the  month  Thoth, 
about  sun-rising;  and  that  the  first  stone  of  Rome  was 
laid  by  him  the  ninth  day  of  the  month  Pharmuthi,  be- 
tween the  second  and  third  hour.  For  the  fortunes  of 
cities  as  well  as  of  men,  they  think,  have  their  certain 
periods  of  time  prefixed,  which  may  be  collected  and  fore- 
known from  the  position  of  the  stars  at  their  first  foun- 
dation. But  these  and  the  like  relations  may  perhaps  not 
so  much  take  and  delight  the  reader  with  their  novelty 
and  curiosity,  as  offend  him  by  their  extravagance. 

The  city  now  being  built,  Romulus  enlisted  all  that 
were  of  age  to  bear  arms  into  military  companies,  each 
company  consisting  of  three  thousand  footmen  and  three 
hundred  horse.  These  companies  were  called  legions, 
because  they  were  the  choicest  and  most  select  of  the 
people  for  fighting  men.  The  rest  of  the  multitude  he 
called  the  people ;  an  hundred  of  the  most  eminent  he 
chose  for  counsellors;  these  he  styled  patricians,  and 
their  assembly  the  senate,  which  signifies  a  council  of 
elders.     The  patricians,  some  say,  were  so  called  because 


ROMULUS.  53 

they  were  the  fathers  of  lawful  children ;  others,  because 
they  could  give  a  good  account  who  their  own  fathers 
were,  which  not  every  one  of  the  rabble  that  poured  into 
the  city  at  first  could  do ;  others,  from  patronage,  their 
word  for  protection  of  inferiors,  the  origin  of  which  they 
attribute  to  Patron,  one  of  those  that  came  over  with  Evan- 
der,  who  was  a  great  protector  and  defender  of  the  weak 
and  needy.  But  perhaps  the  most  probable  judgment 
might  be,  that  Romulus,  esteeming  it  the  duty  of  the 
chiefest  and  wealthiest  men,  with  a  fatherly  care  and  con- 
cern to  look  after  the  meaner,  and  also  encourao-ing;  the 
commonalty  not  to  dread  or  be  aggrieved  at  the  honors 
of  their  superiors,  but  to  love  and  respect  them,  and  to 
think  and  call  them  their  fathers,  might  from  hence  give 
them  the  name  of  patricians.  For  at  this  very  time  all 
foreigners  give  senators  the  style  of  lords;  but  the  Ro- 
mans, making  use  of  a  more  honorable  and  less  invidious 
name,  call  them  Patres  Conscripti ;  at  first  indeed  simply 
Patres,  but  afterwards,  more  being  added,  Patres  Con- 
scripti. By  this  more  imposing  title  he  distinguished  the 
senate  from  the  populace ;  and  in  other  ways  also  sepa- 
rated the  nobles  and  the  commons,  —  calling  them  pa- 
trons, and  these  their  clients, — by  which  means  he  created 
wonderful  love  and  amity  betwixt  them,  productive  of 
great  justice  in  their  dealings.  For  they  were  always 
their  clients'  counsellors  in  law  cases,  their  advocates  in 
courts  of  justice,  in  fine  their  advisers  and  supporters  in 
all  afiairs  whatever.  These  again  faithfully  served  their 
patrons,  not  only  paying  them  all  respect  and  deference, 
but  also,  in  case  of  poverty,  helping  them  to  portion  their 
daughters  and  pay  off  their  debts ;  and  for  a  patron  to 
witness  against  his  client,  or  a  client  against  his  patron, 
was  what  no  law  nor  magistrate  could  enforce.  In  after- 
times,  all  other  duties  subsisting  still  between  them,  it 
was  thought  mean  and  dishonorable  for  the  better  sort 


54  IIOMULUS. 

to  take  money  from   their   inferiors.     And  so  much  of 
these  matters. 

In  the  fourth  month,  after  the  city  was  built,  as  Fabius 
writes,  the  adventure  of  steahng  the  women  was  at- 
tempted ;  and  some  say  Romulus  himself,  being  naturally 
a  martial  man,  and  predisposed  too,  perhaps,  by  certain 
oracles,  to  believe  the  fates  had  ordained  the  future  growth 
and  greatness  of  Rome  should  depend  upon  the  benefit  of 
war,  upon  these  accounts  first  offered  violence  to  the  Sa- 
bines,  since  he  took  away  only  thirty  virgins,  more  to 
give  an  occasion  of  war  than  out  of  any  want  of  women. 
But  this  is  not  very  probable ;  it  would  seem  rather  that, 
observing  his  city  to  be  filled  by  a  confluence  of  foreign- 
ers, few  of  whom  had  wives,  and  that  the  multitude  in 
general,  consisting  of  a  mixture  of  mean  and  obscure 
men,  fell  under  contempt,  and  seemed  to  be  of  no  long 
continuance  together,  and  hoping  farther,  after  the 
women  were  appeased,  to  make  this  injury  in  some  mea- 
sure an  occasion  of  confederacy  and  mutual  commerce 
with  the  Sabines,  he  took  in  hand  this  exploit  after  this 
manner.  First,  he  gave  it  out  as  if  he  had  found  an  altar 
of  a  certain  god  hid  under  ground ;  the  god  they  called 
Consus,  either  the  god  of  counsel  (for  they  still  call  a  con- 
sultation consilium,  and  their  chief  magistrates  consules, 
namely,  counsellors),  or  else  the  equestrian  Neptune,  for 
the  altar  is  kept  covered  in  the  circus  maximus  at  all 
other  times,  and  only  at  horse-races  is  exposed  to  public 
view ;  others  merely  say  that  this  god  had  his  altar  hid 
under  ground  because  counsel  ought  to  be  secret  and  con- 
cealed. Upon  discovery  of  this  altar,  Romulus,  by  pro- 
clamation, appointed  a  day  for  a  splendid  sacrifice,  and  for 
public  games  and  shows,  to  entertain  all  sorts  of  people  ; 
many  flocked  thither,  and  he  himself  sate  in  front,  amidst 
his  nobles,  clad  in  purple.  Now  the  signal  for  their  fall- 
ing on  was  to  be  whenever  he  rose  and  gathered  up  his 


Rope  of  the  Sabines. 

From  a  sculpture  hy  Giovanni  Bologna  in  Lami  Museum, 

Florence. 


UOMULUS.  66 

robe  and  threw  it  over  his  body ;  his  men  stood  <all  ready- 
armed,  with  their  eyes  intent  upon  him,  and  when  the 
sign  was  given,  drawing  their  swords  and  falling  on  with 
a  great  shout,  they  ravished  away  the  daughters  of  the 
Sabines,  they  themselves  flying  without  any  let  or  hin- 
drance. They  say  there  were  but  thirty  taken,  and  from 
them  the  Curiae  or  Fraternities  were  named ;  but  Valerius 
Antias  says  five  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  J  aba,  six  hun- 
dred and  eighty-three  virgins;  which  was  indeed  the 
greatest  excuse  Romulus  could  allege,  namely,  that  they 
had  taken  no  married  woman,  save  one  only,  Hersilia  by 
name,  and  her  too  unknowingly ;  which  showed  they  did 
not  commit  this  rape  wantonly,  but  with  a  design  purely 
of  forming  alliance  with  their  neighbors  by  the  greatest 
and  surest  bonds.  This  Hersilia  some  say  Hostilius  mar- 
ried, a  most  eminent  man  among  the  Eomans;  others, 
Romulus  himself,  and  that  she  bore  two  children  to  him, 
a  daughter,  by  reason  of  primogeniture  called  Prima,  and 
one  only  son,  whom,  from  the  great  concourse  of  citizens 
to  him  at  that  time,  he  called  Aollius,*  but  after  ages 
Abillius.  But  Zenodotus  the  Troezenian,  in  giving  this 
account,  is  contradicted  by  many. 

Among  those  who  committed  this  rape  upon  the  virgins, 
there  were,  they  say,  as  it  so  then  happened,  some  of  the 
meaner  sort  of  men,  who  were  carrying  off  a  damsel,  ex- 
celling all  in  beauty  and  comeliness  of  stature,  whom 
when  some  of  superior  rank  that  met  them  attempted  to 
take  away,  they  cried  out  they  were  carrying  her  to 
Talasius,  a  young  man,  indeed,  but  brave  and  worthy ; 
hearing  that,  they  commended  and  applauded  them 
loudly,  and  also  some,  turning  back,  accompanied  them 
with  good-will  and  pleasure,  shouting  out  the  name  of 
Talasius.     Hence  the  Romans  to  this  very  time,  at  their 

*  AoUein,  Gr.,  to  collect  a  multitude. 


56  ROMULUS. 

weddings,  sing  Talasius  for  their  nuptial  word,  as  the 
Greeks  do  Hymenaeus,  because,  they  say,  Talasius  was 
very  happy  in  his  marriage.  But  Sextius  Sylla  the  Car- 
thaginian, a  man  wanting  neither  learning  nor  ingenuity, 
told  me  Romulus  gave  this  word  as  a  sign  when  to  begin 
the  onset ;  everybody,  therefore,  who  made  prize  of  a 
maiden,  cried  out,  Talasius ;  and  for  that  reason  the  cus- 
tom continues  so  now  at  marriages.  But  most  are  of  opi- 
nion (of  whom  Juba  particularly  is  one)  that  this  word  was 
used  to  new-married  women  by  way  of  incitement  to 
good  housewifery  and  talasia  (spinning),  as  we  say  in  Greek, 
Greek  words  at  that  time  not  being  as  yet  overpowered 
by  Italian.  But  if  this  be  the  case,  and  if  the  Romans 
did  at  that  time  use  the  word  talasia  as  we  do,  a  man 
might  fancy  a  more  probable  reason  of  the  custom.  For 
when  the  Sabines,  after  the  war  against  the  Romans, 
were  reconciled,  conditions  were  made  concerning  their 
women,  that  they  should  be  obliged  to  do  no  other  servile 
offices  to  their  husbands  but  what  concerned  spinning ; 
it  was  customary,  therefore,  ever  after,  at  weddings,  for 
those  that  gave  the  bride  or  escorted  her  or  otherwise 
were  present,  sportingly  to  say  Talasius,  intimating  that 
she  was  henceforth  to  serve  in  spinning  and  no  more. 
It  continues  also  a  custom  at  this  very  day  for  the  bride 
not  of  herself  to  pass  her  husband's  threshold,  but  to  be 
lifted  over,  in  memory  that  the  Sabine  virgins  were  car- 
ried in  by  violence,  and  did  not  go  in  of  their  own  will. 
Some  say,  too,  the  custom  of  parting  the  bride's  hair  with 
the  head  of  a  spear  was  in  token  their  marriages  began 
at  first  by  war  and  acts  of  hostility,  of  which  I  have 
spoken  more  fully  in  my  book  of  Questions. 

This  rape  was  committed  on  the  eighteenth  day  of  the 
month  Sextilis,  now  called  August,  on  which  the  solemni- 
ties of  the  Consualia  are  kept. 

The  Sabines  were  a  numerous  and  martial  people,  but 


ROMULUS.  57 

lived  in  small,  unfortified  villages,  as  it  befitted,  they 
thought,  a  colony  of  the  Laceda3inonians  to  be  bold  and 
fearless ;  nevertheless,  seeing  themselves  bound  by  such 
hostages  to  their  good  behavior,  and  being  solicitous  for 
their  daughters,  they  sent  ambassadors  to  Romulus  with 
fair  and  equitable  requests,  that  he  would  return  their 
young  women  and  recall  that  act  of  violence,  and  after- 
wards, by  persuasion  and  lawful  means,  seek  friendly  cor- 
respondence between  both  nations.  Romidus  would  not 
part  with  the  young  women,  yet  proposed  to  the  Sabines 
to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  them ;  upon  which  point 
some  consulted  and  demurred  long,  but  Acron,  king  of 
the  Ceninenses,  a  man  of  high  spirit  and  a  good  warrior, 
who  had  all  along  a  jealousy  of  Romulus's  bold  attempts,. 
and  considering  particularly  from  this  exploit  upon  the 
women  that  he  was  growing  formidable  to  all  people,  and 
indeed  insufferable,  were  he  not  chastised,  first  rose  up  in 
arms,  and  with  a  powerful  army  advanced  against  him. 
Romulus  likewise  prepared  to  receive  him ;  but  when 
they  came  within  sight  and  viewed  each  other,  they 
made  a  challenge  to  fight  a  single  duel,  the  armies  stand- 
ing by  under  arms,  without  participation.  And  Romulus, 
making  a  vow  to  Jupiter,  if  he  should  conquer,  to  carry, 
himself,  and  dedicate  his  adversary's  armor  to  his  honor, 
overcame  him  in  combat,  and,  a  battle  ensuing,  routed 
his  army  also,  and  then  took  his  city  ;  but  did  those  he 
found  in  it  no  injury,  only  commanded  them  to  demolish 
the  place  and  attend  him  to  Rome,  there  to  be  admitted 
to  all  the  privileges  of  citizens.  And  indeed  there  was 
nothing  did  more  advance  the  greatness  of  Rome,  than 
that  she  did  always  unite  and  incorporate  those  whom 
she  conquered  into  herself.  Romulus,  that  he  might 
perform  his  vow  in  the  most  acceptable  manner  to  Jupi- 
ter, and  withal  make  the  pomp  of  it  delightful  to  the 
eye  of  the  city,  cut  down  a  tall  oak  which  he  saw  grow- 


58  ROMULUS. 

ing  in  the  camp,  which  he  trimmed  to  the  shape  of  a 
trophy,  and  fastened  on  it  Acron's  whole  suit  of  armor 
disposed  in  proper  form ;  then  he  himself,  girding  his 
clothes  about  him,  and  crowning  his  head  with  a  laurel- 
garland,  his  hair  gracefully  flowing,  carried  the  trophy 
resting  erect  upon  his  right  shoulder,  and  so  marched  on, 
singing  songs  of  triumph,  and  his  whole  army  following 
after,  the  citizens  all  receiving  him  with  acclamations  of 
joy  and  wonder.  The  procession  of  this  day  was  the 
origin  and  model  of  all  after  triumphs.  This  trophy  was 
styled  an  offering  to  Jupiter  Feretrius,  from /enr^,  which 
in  Latin  is  to  smite  ;  for  Romulus  prayed  he  might  smite 
and  overthrow  his  enemy ;  and  the  spoils  were  called 
opima,  or  royal  spoils,  says  Varro,  from  their  richness, 
which  the  word  opes  signifies ;  though  one  would  more 
probably  conjecture  from  opus,  an  act ;  for  it  is  only  to 
the  general  of  an  army  who  with  his  own  hand  kills  his 
enemies'  general  that  this  honor  is  granted  of  offering 
the  opima  spolia.  And  three  only  of  the  Roman  captains 
have  had  it  conferred  on  them :  first,  Romulus,  upon 
killing  Acron  the  Ceninensian ;  next,  Cornelius  Cossus, 
for  slaying  Tolumnius  the  Tuscan  ;  and  lastly,  Claudius 
Marcellus.  upon  his  conquering  Viridomarus,  king  of  the 
Gauls.  The  two  latter,  Cossus  and  Marcellus,  made  their 
entries  in  triumphant  chariots,  bearing  their  trophies 
themselves ;  but  that  Romulus  made  use  of  a  chariot, 
Dionysius  is  wrong  in  asserting.  History  says,  Tarquinius, 
Damaratus's  son,  was  the  first  that  brought  triumphs  to 
this  great  pomp  and  grandeur ;  others,  that  Publicola  was 
the  first  that  rode  in  triumph.  The  statues  of  Romulus 
in  triumph  are,  as  may  be  seen  in  Rome,  all  on  foot. 

After  the  overthrow  of  the  Ceninensians,  the  other 
Sabines  still  protracting  the  time  in  preparations,  the 
people  of  FidenoB,  Crustumerium,  and  Antemna,  joined 
their  forces  against  the  Romans ;  they  in  like  manner 


ROMULUS.  59 

were  defeated  in  battle,  and  surrendered  up  to  Romulus 
their  cities  to  be  seized,  their  lands  and  territories  to  be 
divided,  and  themselves  to  be  transplanted  to  Rome.  All 
the  lands  which  Romulus  acquired,  he  distributed  among 
the  citizens,  except  only  what  the  parents  of  the  stolen 
virgins  had ;  these  he  suffered  to  possess  their  own.  The 
rest  of  the  Sabines,  enraged  hereat,  choosing  Tatius  their 
captain,  marched  straight  against  Rome.  The  city  was 
almost  inaccessible,  having  for  its  fortress  that  which  is 
now  the  Capitol,  where  a  strong  guard  was  placed,  and 
Tarpeius  their  captain ;  not  Tarpeia  the  virgin,  as  some 
say  who  would  make  Romulus  a  fool.  But  Tarpeia, 
daughter  to  the  captain,  coveting  the  golden  bracelets  she 
saw  them  wear,  betrayed  the  fort  into  the  Sabines'  hands, 
and  asked,  in  reward  of  her  treachery,  the  things  they 
wore  on  their  left  arms.  Tatius  conditioning  thus  with 
her,  in  the  night  she  opened  one  of  the  gates,  and  received 
the  Sabines  in.  And  truly  Antigonus,  it  would  seem,  was 
not  solitary  in  saying,  he  loved  betrayers,  but  hated  those 
who  had  betrayed ;  nor  Csesar,  who  told  Rhymitalces  the 
Thracian,  that  he  loved  the  treason,  but  hated  the  traitor ; 
but  it  is  the  general  feeling  of  all  who  have  occasion  for 
wicked  men's  service,  as  people  have  for  the  poison  of 
venomous  beasts;  they  are  glad  of  them  while  they  are 
of  use.  and  abhor  their  baseness  when  it  is  over.  And  so 
then  did  Tatius  behave  towards  Tarpeia,  for  he  com- 
manded the  Sabines,  in  regard  to  their  contract,  not  to 
refuse  her  the  least  part  of  what  ttiey  wore  on  their  left 
arms  ;  and  he  himself  first  took  his  bracelet  off  his  arm, 
and  threw  that,  together  with  his  buckler,  at  her ;  and  all 
the  rest  following,  she,  being  borne  down  and  quite 
buried  with  the  multitude  of  gold  and  their  shields,  died 
under  the  weight  and  pressure  of  them;  Tarpeius  also 
himself,  being  prosecuted  by  Romulus,  was  found  guilty 
of  treason,  as  Juba  says  Sulpicius  Galba  relates.     Those 


60  ROMULUS. 

who  write  otherwise  concerning  Tarpeia,  as  that  she  was 
the  daughter  of  Tatius,  the  Sabine  captain,  and,  being  for- 
cibly detained  by  Romulus,  acted  and  suffered  thus  by 
her  father's  contrivance,  speak  very  absurdly,  of  whom 
Antigonus  is  one.  And  Simylus,  the  poet,  who  thinks 
Tarpeia  betrayed  the  Capitol,  not  to  the  Sabines,  but  the 
Gauls,  having  fallen  in  love  with  their  king,  talks  mere 
folly,  saying  thus  :  — 

Tarpeia  't  was,  who,  dwelling  close  thereby, 
Laid  open  Rome  unto  the  enemy. 
She,  for  the  love  of  the  besieging  Gaul, 
Betrayed  the  city's  strength,  the  Capitol. 

And  a  little  after,  speaking  of  her  death  :  — 

The  numerous  nations  of  the  Celtic  foe 

Bore  her  not  living  to  the  banks  of  Po  ; 

Tlieir  heavy  shields  upon  the  maid  they  threw, 

And  with  their  splendid  gifts  entombed  at  once  and  slew. 

Tarpeia  afterwards  was  buried  there,  and  the  hill  from 
her  was  called  Tarpeius,  until  the  reign  of  king  Tarquin, 
who  dedicated  the  place  to  Jupiter,  at  which  time  her 
bones  were  removed,  and  so  it  lost  her  name,  except  only 
that  part  of  the  Capitol  which  they  still  call  the  Tarpeian 
Rock,  from  which  they  used  to  cast  down  malefactors. 

The  Sabines  being  possessed  of  the  hill,  Romulus,  in 
great  fury,  bade  them  battle,  and  Tatius  was  confident  to 
accept  it,  perceiving,  if  they  were  overpowered,  that  they 
had  behind  them  a  secure  retreat.  The  level  in  the  mid- 
dle, where  they  were  to  join  battle,  being  surrounded 
with  many  little  hills,  seemed  to  enforce  both  parties  to  a 
sharp  and  desperate  conflict,  by  reason  of  the  difficulties 
of  the  place,  which  had  but  a  few  outlets,  inconvenient 
either  for  refuge  or  pursuit.  It  happened,  too,  the  river 
having  overflowed  not  many  days  before,  there  was  left 


ROMULUS.  61 

behind  in  the  plain,  where  now  the  forum  stands,  a  deep 
blind  mild  and  slime,  which,  though  it  did  not  appear 
much  to  the  eye,  and  was  not  easily  avoided,  at  bottom 
was  deceitful  and  dangerous ;  upon  which  the  Sabines  be- 
ing unwarily  about  to  enter,  met  with  a  piece  of  good  for- 
tune ;  for  Curtius,  a  gallant  man,  eager  of  honor,  and  of 
aspiring  thoughts,  being  mounted  on  horseback,  was  gal- 
loping on  before  the  rest,  and  mired  his  horse  here,  and, 
endeavoring  for  awhile  by  whip  and  spur  and  voice  to 
disentangle  him,  but  finding  it  impossible,  quitted  him  and 
saved  himself;  the  place  from  him  to  this  very  time  is 
called  the  Curtian  Lake.  The  Sabines,  having  avoided 
this  danger,  began  the  fight  very  smartly,  the  fortune  of 
the  day  being  very  dubious,  though  many  were  slain; 
amongst  whom  was  Hostilius,  who,  they  say,  was  husband 
to  Hersilia,  and  grandfather  to  that  Hostilius  who  reigned 
after  Numa.  There  were  many  other  brief  conflicts,  we 
may  suppose,  but  the  most  memorable  was  the  last,  in 
which  Romulus  having  received  a  wound  on  his  head  by 
a  stone,  and  being  almost  felled  to  the  ground  by  it,  and 
disabled,  the  Romans  gave  way,  and,  being  driven  out  of 
the  level  ground,  fled  towards  the  Palatium.  Romulus,  by 
this  time  recovering  from  his  wound  a  little,  turned  about 
to  renew  the  battle,  and,  facing  the  fliers,  with  a  loud  voice 
encouraged  them  to  stand  and  fight.  But  being  overborne 
with  numbers,  and  nobody  daring  to  face  about,  stretching 
out  his  hands  to  heaven,  he  prayed  to  Jupiter  to  stop  the 
army,  and  not  to  neglect  but  maintain  the  Roman  cause, 
now  in  extreme  danger.  The  prayer  was  no  sooner  made, 
than  shame  and  respect  for  their  king  checked  many; 
the  fears  of  the  fugitives  changed  suddenly  into  confi- 
dence. The  place  they  first  stood  at  was  where  now  is 
the  temple  of  Jupiter  Stator  (which  may  be  translated 
the  Stayer) ;  there  they  rallied  again  into  ranks,  and  re- 
pulsed the  Sabines  to  the  place  called  now  Regia,  and  to 


62  ROMULUS. 

the  temple  of  Vesta ;  where  both  parties,  preparing  to  be- 
gin a  second  battle,  were  prevented  by  a  spectacle,  strange 
to  behold,  and  defying  description.  For  the  daughters 
of  the  Sabines,  who  had  been  carried  off,  came  running, 
in  great  confusion,  some  on  this  side,  some  on  that,  with 
miserable  cries  and  lamentations,  like  creatures  possessed, 
in  the  midst  of  the  army,  and  among  the  dead  bodies,  to 
come  at  their  husbands  and  their  fathers,  some  with  their 
young  babes  in  their  arms,  others  their  hair  loose  about 
their  ears,  but  all  calling,  now  upon  the  Sabines,  now 
upon  the  Romans,  in  the  most  tender  and  endearing 
words.  Hereupon  both  melted  into  compassion,  and  fell 
back,  to  make  room  for  them  betwixt  the  armies.  The 
sight  of  the  women  carried  sorrow  and  commiseration 
upon  both  sides  into  the  hearts  of  all,  but  still  more  their 
words,  which  began  with  expostulation  and  upbraiding, 
and  ended  with  entreaty  and  supplication. 

"Wherein,"  say  they,  "have  we  injured  or  offended 
you,  as  to  deserve  such  sufferings,  past  and  present  ?  We 
were  ravished  away  mijustly  and  violently  by  those 
whose  now  we  are  ;  that  being  done,  we  were  so  long 
neglected  by  our  fathers,  our  brothers,  and  countrymen, 
that  time,  having  now  by  the  strictest  bonds  united  us  to 
those  we  once  mortally  hated,  has  made  it  impossible  for 
us  not  to  tremble  at  the  danger  and  weep  at  the  death 
of  the  very  men  who  once  used  violence  to  us.  You  did 
not  come  to  vindicate  our  honor,  while  we  were  virgins, 
against  our  assailants ;  but  do  come  now  to  force  away 
wives  from  their  husbands  and  mothers  from  their  chil- 
dren, a  succor  more  grievous  to  its  wretched  objects  than 
the  former  betrayal  and  neglect  of  them.  Which  shall 
we  call  the  worst,  their  love-making  or  your  compassion  ? 
K  you  were  making  war  upon  any  other  occasion,  for  our 
sakes  you  ought  to  withhold  your  hands  from  those  to 
whom  we  have  made  you  fathers-in-law  and  grandsires. 


ROMULUS.  63 

If  it  be  for  our  own  cause,  then  take  us,  and  with  us  your 
Bons-in-law  and  grandchildren.  Restore  to  us  our  parents 
and  kindred,  but  do  not  rob  us  of  our  children  and  hus- 
bands. Make  us  not,  we  entreat  you,  twice  captives." 
Hersilia  having  spoken  many  such  words  as  these,  and  the 
others  earnestly  praying,  a  truce  was  made,  and  the  chief 
officers  came  to  a  parley  ;  the  women,  in  the  mean  time, 
brought  and  presented  their  husbands  and  children  to 
their  fathers  and  brothers ;  gave  those  that  wanted,  meat 
and  drink,  and  carried  the  wounded  home  to  be  cured, 
and  showed  also  how  much  they  governed  within  doors, 
and  how  indulgent  their  husbands  were  to  them,  in  de- 
meaning themselves  towards  them  with  all  kindness  and 
respect  imaginable.  Upon  this,  conditions  were  agreed 
upon,  that  what  women  pleased  might  stay  where  they 
were,  exempt,  as  aforesaid,  from  all  drudgery  and  labor 
but  spinning;  that  the  Romans  and  Sabines  should  in- 
habit the  city  together ;  that  the  city  should  be  called 
Rome,  from  Romulus;  but  the  Romans,  Quirites, from  the 
country  of  Tatius  ;  and  that  they  both  should  govern  and 
command  in  common.  The  place  of  the  ratification  is 
still  called  Comitium,  from  coire,  to  meet. 

The  city  being  thus  doubled  in  number,  an  hundred  of 
the  Sabines  were  elected  senators,  and  the  legions  were 
increased  to  six  thousand  foot  and  six  hundred  horse  ; 
then  they  divided  the  people  into  three  tribes ;  the  first, 
from  Romulus,  named  Ramnenses ;  the  second,  from 
Tatius,  Tatienses ;  the  third,  Luceres,  from  the  lucus,  or 
grove,  where  the  Asylum  stood,  whither  many  fled  for 
sanctuary,  and  were  received  into  the  city.  And  that 
they  were  just  three,  the  very  name  of  tribe  and  tnhum 
seems  to  show ;  each  tiibe  contained  ten  curias,  or  bro- 
therhoods, which,  some  say,  took  their  names  from  the 
Sabine  women ;  but  that  seems  to  be  false,  because 
many  had  their  names  from  various  places.     Though  it  is 


64  ROMULUS. 

true,  they  then  constituted  many  things  in  honor  to  the 
women ;  as  to  give  them  the  way  wherever  they  met 
them  ;  to  speak  no  ill  word  in  their  presence  ;  not  to  ap- 
pear naked  before  them,  or  else  be  liable  to  prosecution 
before  the  judges  of  homicide  ;  that  their  children  should 
wear  an  ornament  about  their  necks  called  the  bulla 
(because  it  was  like  a  bubble),  and  the  prcetexta,  a  gown 
edged  with  purple. 

The  princes  did  not  immediately  join  in  council  to- 
gether, but  at  first  each  met  with  his  own  hundred; 
afterwards  all  assembled  together.  Tatius  dwelt  where 
now  the  temple  of  Moneta  stands,  and  Romulus,  close  by 
the  steps,  as  they  call  them,  of  the  Fair  Shore,  near  the 
descent  from  the  Mount  Palatine  to  the  Circus  Maximus. 
There,  they  say,  grew  the  holy  cornel  tree,  of  which  they 
report,  that  Romulus  once,  to  try  his  strength,  threw  a 
dart  from  the  Aventine  Mount,  the  stafi"  of  which  was  made 
of  cornel,  which  struck  so  deep  into  the  ground,  that  no 
one  of  many  that  tried  could  pluck  it  up ;  and  the  soil, 
being  fertile,  gave  nourishment  to  the  wood,  which  sent 
forth  branches,  and  produced  a  cornel-stock  of  considerable 
bigness.  This  did  posterity  preserve  and  worship  as  one 
of  the  most  sacred  things ;  and,  therefore,  walled  it  about ; 
and  if  to  any  one  it  appeared  not  green  nor  flourishing, 
but  inclining  to  pine  and  wither,  he  immediately  made 
outcry  to  all  he  met,  and  they,  like  people  hearing  of  a 
house  on  fire,  with  one  accord  would  cry  for  water,  and 
run  from  all  parts  with  buckets  full  to  the  place.  But 
when  Caius  Caesar,  they  say,  was  repairing  the  steps  about 
it,  some  of  the  laborers  digging  too  close,  the  roots  were 
destroyed,  and  the  tree  withered. 

The  Sabines  adopted  the  Roman  months,  of  which 
whatever  is  remarkable  is  mentioned  in  the  Life  of 
Numa.  Romulus,  on  the  other  hand,  adopted  their  long 
shields,  and  changed  his  own  armor  and  that  of  all  the 


ROMULUS.  66 

Romans,  who  before  wore  round  targets  of  the  Argive  pat- 
tern.    Feasts  and  sacrifices  they  partook  of  in  common, 
not  abohshing  any  which  either  nation  observed  before, 
and  instituting  several  new  ones ;  of  which  one  was  the 
Matronaha,  instituted  in  honor  of  the  women,  for  their 
extinction  of  the  war;  Hkewise  the  Carmentalia.     This 
Carmenta   some    think   a   deity   presiding   over   human 
birth ;  for  which  reason  she  is  much  honored  by  mothers. 
Others  say  she  was  the  wife  of  Evander,  the  Arcadian, 
being  a  prophetess,  and  wont  to  deliver  her  oracles  in 
verse,  and  from  carmen,  a   verse,  was  called  Carmenta  ; 
her  proper  name  being  Nicostrata.     Others  more  probably 
derive  Carmenta  from  carem  mente,  or  insane,  in  allusion 
to  her  prophetic  frenzies.     Of  the  Feast  of  Palilia  we  have 
spoken  before.     The  Lupercalia,  by  the  time  of  its  cele- 
bration, may  seem  to  be  a  feast  of  purification,  for  it  is 
solemnized  on  the  dies  nefasti,  or  non-court  days,  of  the 
month  February,  which  name  signifies  purification,  and 
the  very  day  of  the  feast  was  anciently  called  Februata ; 
but  its  name  is  equivalent  to  the  Greek  Lycsea ;  and  it 
seems  thus  to  be  of  great  antiquity,  and  brought  in  by 
the  Arcadians  who  came  with  Evander.     Yet  this  is  but 
dubious,  for  it  may  come  as  well  from  the  wolf  that  nursed 
Romulus ;  and  we  see  the  Luperci,  the  priests,  begin  their 
course  from  the  place  where  they  say  Romulus  was  ex- 
posed.    But  the  ceremonies  performed  in  it  render  the 
origin  of  the  thing  more  difficult  to  be  guessed  at ;  for 
there  are  goats  killed,  then,  two  young  noblemen's  sons 
being  brought,  some  are  to  stain  their  foreheads  with  the 
bloody  knife,  others  presently  to  wipe  it  off  with   wool 
dipped  in  milk ;  then  the  young  boys  must  laugh  after 
their  foreheads  are  wiped;    that  done,  having  cut  the 
goats'  skins  into  thongs,  they  run  about  naked,  only  with 
something  about  their  middle,  lashing  all  they  meet ;  and 
the  young  wives  do  not  avoid  their  strokes,  fancying  they 

VOL.   I.  5 


66  ROMULUS. 

will  help  conception  and  child-birth.  Another  thing  pe- 
culiar to  this  feast  is  for  the  Luperci  to  sacrifice  a  dog. 
But  as,  a  certain  poet  who  wrote  fabulous  explanations  of 
Roman  customs  in  elegiac  verses,  says,  that  Romulus  and 
Remus,  after  the  conquest  of  Amulius,  ran  joyfully  to  the 
place  where  the  wolf  gave  them  suck ;  and  that  in  imita- 
tion of  that,  this  feast  was  held,  and  two  young  noblemen 
ran  — 

Striking  at  all,  as  when  from  Alba  town, 

With  sword  in  hand,  the  twins  came  hurrying  down ; 

and  that  the  bloody  knife  applied  to  their  foreheads 
was  a  sign  of  the  danger  and  bloodshed  of  that  day  ;  the 
cleansing  of  them  in  milk,  a  remembrance  of  their  food 
and  nourishment.  Caius  Acilius  writes,  that,  before  the 
city  was  built,  the  cattle  of  Romulus  and  Remus  one  day 
going  astray,  they,  praying  to  the  god  Faunus,  ran  out 
to  seek  them  naked,  wishing  not  to  be  troubled  with 
sweat,  and  that  this  is  why  the  Luperci  run  naked.  If  the 
sacrifice  be  by  way  of  purification,  a  dog  might  very  well 
be  sacrificed ;  for  the  Greeks,  in  their  lustrations,  carry 
out  young  dogs,  and  frequently  use  this  ceremony  of 
penscylacismm,  as  they  call  it.  Or  if  again  it  is  a  sacri- 
fice of  gratitude  to  the  wolf  that  nourished  and  preserved 
Romulus,  there  is  good  reason  in  killing  a  dog,  as  being 
an  enemy  to  wolves.  Unless  indeed,  after  all,  the  creature 
is  punished  for  hindering  the  Luperci  in  their  running. 

They  say,  too,  Romulus  was  the  first  that  consecra- 
ted holy  fire,  and  instituted  holy  virgins  to  keep  it, 
called  vestals ;  others  ascribe  it  to  Numa  Pompilius ; 
agreeing,  however,  that  Romulus  was  otherwise  eminently 
religious,  and  skilled  in  divination,  and  for  that  reason 
carried  the  lituiis^  a  crooked  rod  with  which  soothsayers 
describe  the  quarters  of  the  heavens,  when  they  sit  to 
observe  the  flights  of  birds.     This  of  his,  being  kept  in 


ROMULUS.  67 

the  Palatium,  was  lost  when  the  city  was  taken  by  the 
Gauls ;  and  afterwards,  that  barbarous  people  being  dri- 
ven out,  was  found  in  the  ruins,  under  a  great  heap  of 
ashes,  untouched  by  the  fire,  all  things  about  it  being 
consumed  and  burnt.  He  instituted  also  certain  laws, 
one  of  which  is  somewhat  severe,  which  suffers  not  a  wife 
to  leave  her  husband,  but  grants  a  husband  power  to 
tm-n  off  his  wife,  either  upon  poisoning  hei-  children,  or 
counterfeiting  his  keys,  or  for  adultery ;  but  if  the  husband 
upon  any  other  occasion  put  her  away,  he  ordered  one 
moiety  of  his  estate  to  be  given  to  the  wife,  the  other  to 
fall  to  the  goddess  Ceres ;  and  whoever  cast  off  his  wife, 
to  make  an  atonement  by  sacrifice  to  the  gods  of  the 
dead.  This,  too,  is  observable  as  a  singular  thing  in  Ro- 
mulus, that  he  appointed  no  punishment  for  real  parricide, 
but  called  all  murder  so,  thinking  the  one  an  accursed 
thing,  but  the  other  a  thing  impossible ;  and,  for  a  long 
time,  his  judgment  seemed  to  have  been  right ;  for  in  al- 
most six  hundred  years  together,  nobody  committed  the 
like  in  Rome ;  and  Lucius  Hostius,  after  the  wars  of  Han- 
nibal, is  recorded  to  have  been  the  first  parricide.  Let 
thus  much  suffice  concerning  these  matters. 

Li  the  fifth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tatius,  some  of  his 
friends  and  kinsmen,  meeting  ambassadors  coming  from 
Laurentum  to  Rome,  attempted  on  the  road  to  take  away 
their  money  by  force,  and,  upon  their  resistance,  kDled 
them.  So  great  a  villany  having  been  committed,  Romu- 
lus thought  the  malefactors  ought  at  once  to  be  punished, 
but  Tatius  shufiied  off  and  deferred  the  execution  of  it ; 
and  this  one  thing  was  the  beginning  of  open  quarrel 
betwixt  them ;  in  all  other  respects  they  were  very  care- 
ftd  of  their  conduct,  and  administered  affairs  together 
with  great  unanimity.  The  relations  of  the  slain,  being 
debarred  of  lawful  satisfaction  by  reason  of  Tatius,  fell 
upon  him  as  he  was  sacrificing  with  Romulus  at  Laviniiim, 


68  ROMULUS. 

and  slew  him ;  but  escorted  Romulus  home,  commending 
and  extolling  him  for  a  just  prince.  Romulub  took  the 
body  of  Tatius,  and  buried  it  very  splendidly  in  the  Aven- 
tine  Mount,  near  the  place  called  Armilustrium,  but 
altogether  neglected  revenging  his  murder.  Some  au- 
thors write,  the  city  of  Laurentum,  fearing  the  conse- 
quence, delivered  up  the  murderers  of  Tatius;  but  Eo- 
mulus  dismissed  them,  saying,  one  murder  was  requited 
with  another.  This  gave  occasion  of  talk  and  jealousy, 
as  if  he  were  well  pleased  at  the  removal  of  his  copartner 
in  the  government.  Nothing  of  these  things,  however, 
raised  any  sort  of  feud  or  disturbance  among  the  Sabines ; 
but  some  out  of  love  to  him,  others  out  of  fear  of  his 
power,  some  again  reverencing  him  as  a  god,  thej^  all 
continued  living  peacefully  in  admiration  and  awe  of  him ; 
many  foreign  nations,  too,  showed  respect  to  Romulus; 
the  Ancient  Latins  sent,  and  entered  into  league  and  con- 
federacy with  him.  Fidenae  he  took,  a  neighboring  city 
to  Rome,  by  a  party  of  horse,  as  some  say,  whom  he  sent 
before  with  commands  to  cut  down  the  hinges  of  the 
gates,  himself  afterwards  unexpectedly  coming  up.  Oth- 
ers say,  they  having  first  made  the  invasion,  plundering 
and  ravaging  the  country  and  suburbs,  Romulus  lay  in 
ambush  for  them,  and,  having  killed  many  of  their  men, 
took  the  city ;  but,  nevertheless,  did  not  raze  or  demolish 
it,  but  made  it  a  Roman  colony,  and  sent  thither,  on  the 
Ides  of  April,  two  thousand  five  hundred  inhabitants. 

Soon  after  a  plague  broke  out,  causing  sudden  death 
without  any  previous  sickness ;  it  infected  also  the  com 
with  unfruitfulness,  and  cattle  with  barrenness;  there 
rained  blood,  too,  in  the  city ;  so  that,  to  their  actual  suf- 
ferings, fear  of  the  wrath  of  the  gods  was  added.  But 
when  the  same  mischiefs  fell  upon  Laurentum,  then  every- 
body judged  it  was  divine  vengeance  that  fell  upon  both 
cities,  for  the  neglect  of  executing  justice  upon  the  mur- 


ROMULUS.  69 

tier  of  Tatius  and  the  ambassadors.  But  the  murderers 
on  both  sides  being  delivered  up  and  punished,  the  pesti- 
lence visibly  abated ;  and  Romulus  purified  the  cities 
with  lustrations,  which,  they  say,  even  now  are  performed 
at  the  wood  called  Ferentina.  But  before  the  plague 
ceased,  the  Camertines  invaded  the  Eomans  and  overran 
the  country,  thinking  them,  by  reason  of  the  distemper, 
unable  to  resist ;  but  Romulus  at  once  made  head  against 
them,  and  gained  the  victory,  with  the  slaughter  of  six 
thousand  men ;  then  took  their  city,  and  brought  half  of 
those  he  found  there  to  Rome ;  sending  from  Rome  to 
Camerium  double  the  number  he  left  there.  This  was 
done  the  first  of  August.  So  many  citizens  had  he  to 
spare,  in  sixteen  years'  time  from  his  first  founding  Rome. 
Among  other  spoils,  he  took  a  brazen  four-horse  chariot 
from  Camerium,  which  he  placed  in  the  temple  of  Vulcan, 
setting  on  it  his  own  statue,  with  a  figure  of  Victory 
crowning  him. 

The  Roman  cause  thus  daily  gathering  strength,  their 
weaker  neighbors  shrunk  away,  and  were  thankful  to  be 
left  untouched  ;  but  the  stronger,  out  of  fear  or  envy, 
thought  they  ought  not  to  give  way  to  Romulus,  but  to 
curb  and  put  a  stop  to  his  growing  greatness.  The  first 
were  the  Veientes,  a  people  of  Tuscany,  who  had  large 
possessions,  and  dwelt  in  a  spacious  city ;  they  took  occa- 
sion to  commence  a  war,  by  claiming  Fidense  as  belonging 
to  them ;  a  thing  not  only  very  unreasonable,  but  very 
ridiculous,  that  they,  who  did  not  assist  them  in  the  great- 
est extremities,  but  permitted  them  to  be  slain,  should 
challenge  their  lands  and  houses  when  in  the  hands  of 
others.  But  being  scornfully  retorted  upon  by  Romulus 
in  his  answers,  they  divided  themselves  into  two  bodies ; 
with  one  they  attacked  the  garrison  of  Fidenae,  the  other 
marched  against  Romulus ;  that  which  went  against  Fide- 
nae got  the  victory,  and  slew  two  thousand  Romans ;  the 


70  ROMULUS. 

other  was  worsted  bj  Romulus,  with  the  loss  of  eight  thou- 
sand men.  A  fresh  battle  was  fought  near  Fidenaa,  and 
here  all  men  acknowledge  the  day's  success  to  have  been 
chiefly  the  work  of  Romulus  himself,  who  showed  the  high- 
est skill  as  well  as  courage,  and  seemed  to  manifest  a 
strength  and  swiftness  more  than  human.  But  what  some 
write,  that,  of  fourteen  thousand  that  fell  that  day,  above 
half  were  slain  by  Romulus's  own  hand,  verges  too  near 
to  fable,  and  is,  indeed,  simply  incredible ;  since  even  the 
Messenians  are  thought  to  go  too  far  in  saying  that  Ari- 
stomenes  three  times  offered  sacrifice  for  the  death  of  a 
hundred  enemies,  Lacedaemonians,  slain  by  himself  The 
army  being  thus  routed,  Romulus,  suffering  those  that 
were  left  to  make  their  escape,  led  his  forces  against  the 
city ;  they,  having  suffered  such  great  losses,  did  not 
venture  to  oppose,  but,  humbly  suing  to  him,  made  a 
league  and  friendship  for  an  hundred  years ;  surrender- 
ing also  a  large  district  of  land  called  Septempagium,  that 
is,  the  seven  parts,  as  also  their  salt-works  upon  the 
river,  and  fifty  noblemen  for  hostages.  He  made  his 
triumph  for  this  on  the  Ides  of  October,  leading,  among 
the  rest  of  his  many  captives,  the  general  of  the  Veientes, 
an  elderly  man,  but  who  had  not,  it  seemed,  acted  with 
the  prudence  of  age ;  whence  even  now,  in  sacrifices  for 
victories,  they  lead  an  old  man  through  the  market-place 
to  the  Capitol,  apparelled  in  purple,  with  a  bulla,  or  child's 
toy,  tied  to  it,  and  the  crier  cries,  Sardians  to  he  sold ;  for 
the  Tuscans  are  said  to  be  a  colony  of  the  Sardians,  and 
the  Veientes  are  a  city  of  Tuscany. 

This  was  the  last  battle  Romulus  ever  fought;  after- 
wards he,  as  most,  nay  all  men,  very  few  excepted,  do, 
who  are  raised  by  great  and  miraculous  good-haps  of 
fortune  to  power  and  greatness,  so,  I  say,  did  he;  relying 
upon  his  own  great  actions,  and  growing  of  an  haughtier 
mind,  he  forsook  his  popular  behavior  for   kingly  arro- 


ROMULUS.  71 

gance,  odious  to  the  people ;  to  whom  in  particular  the 
state  which  he  assumed  was  hateful.  For  he  dressed  in 
scarlet,  with  the  purple- bordered  robe  over  it;  he  gave 
audience  on  a  couch  of  state,  having  always  about  him 
some  young  men  called  Celeres,  from  their  swiftness  in 
doing  commissions ;  there  went  before  him  others  with 
staves,  to  make  room,  with  leather  thongs  tied  on  their 
bodies,  to  bind  on  the  moment  whomever  he  commanded. 
The  Latins  formerly  used  ligare  in  the  same  sense  as  now 
alligare,  to  bind,  whence  the  name  lictors,  for  these  officers, 
and  hacuh,  or  staves,  for  their  rods,  because  staves  were 
then  used.  It  is  probable,  however,  they  were  first  called 
litores,  afterwards,  by  putting  in  a  c,  Uctores,  or,  in  Greek, 
lUurgi,  or  people's  officers,  for  leitos  is  still  Greek  for  the 
commons,  and  lads  for  the  people  in  general. 

But  when,  after  the  death  of  his  grandfather  Numitor 
in  Alba,  the  throne  devolving  upon  Romulus,  he,  to  court 
the  people,  put  the  government  into  their  own  hands, 
and  appointed  an  annual  magistrate  over  the  Albans, 
this  taught  the  great  men  of  Rome  to  seek  after  a  free 
and  anti-monarchical  state,  wherein  all  might  in  turn  be 
subjects  and  rulers.  For  neither  were  the  patricians  any 
longer  admitted  to  state  affairs,  only  had  the  name  and 
title  left  them,  convening  in  council  rather  for  fashion's 
sake  than  advice,  where  they  heard  in  silence  the  king's 
commands,  and  so  departed,  exceeding  the  commonalty 
only  in  hearing  first  what  was  done.  These  and  the  like 
were  matters  of  small  moment ;  but  when  he  of  his  own 
accord  parted  among  his  soldiers  what  lands  were  ac- 
quired by  war,  and  restored  the  Veientes  their  hostages, 
the  senate  neither  consenting  nor  approving  of  it,  then, 
indeed,  he  seemed  to  put  a  great  affront  upon  them ;  so 
that,  on  his  sudden  and  strange  disappearance  a  short 
while  after,  the  senate  fell  under  suspicion  and  calumny. 
He  disappeared  on  the  Nones  of  July,  as  they  now  call 


72  ROMULUS. 

the  month  which  was  then  Quintihs,  leaving  nothing  of 
certainty  to  be  related  of  his  death ;  onl}'^  the  time,  as 
just  mentioned,  for  on  that  day  many  ceremonies  are 
still  performed  in  representation  of  what  happened. 
Neither  is  this  uncertainty  to  be  thought  strange,  seeing 
the  manner  of  the  deatli  of  Scipio  Africanus,  who  died  at 
his  own  home  after  supper,  has  been  found  capable  neither 
of  proof  or  disproof;  for  some  say  he  died  a  natural  death, 
being  of  a  sickly  habit ;  others,  that  he  poisoned  himself ; 
others  again,  that  his  enemies,  breaking  in  upon  him  in 
the  night,  stifled  him.  Yet  Scipio's  dead  body  lay  open 
to  be  seen  of  all,  and  any  one,  from  his  own  observation, 
might  form  his  suspicions  and  conjectures ;  whereas  Ro- 
mulus, when  he  vanished,  left  neither  the  least  part  of 
his  body,  nor  any  remnant  of  his  clothes  to  be  seen.  So 
that  some  fancied,  the  senators,  having  fallen  upon  him  in 
the  temple  of  Vulcan,  cut  his  body  into  pieces,  and  took 
each  a  part  away  in  his  bosom ;  others  think  his  disap- 
pearance was  neither  in  the  temple  of  Vulcan,  nor  with 
the  senators  only  by,  but  that,  it  came  to  pass  that,  as  he 
was  haranguing  the  people  without  the  city,  near  a  place 
called  the  Goat's  Marsh,  on  a  sudden  strange  and  unac- 
countable disorders  and  alterations  took  place  in  the  air ; 
the  face  of  the  sun  was  darkened,  and  the  day  turned 
into  night,  and  that,  too,  no  quiet,  peaceable  night,  but 
with  terrible  thunderings,  and  boisterous  winds  from  all 
quarters ;  during  which  the  common  people  dispersed 
and  fled,  but  the  senators  kept  close  together.  The  tem- 
pest being  over  and  the  light  breaking  out,  when  the 
people  gathered  again,  they  missed  and  inquired  for  their 
king ;  the  senators  suffered  them  not  to  search,  or  busy 
themselves  about  the  matter,  but  commanded  them  to 
honor  and  worship  Romulus  as  one  taken  up  to  the  gods, 
and  about  to  be  to  them,  in  the  place  of  a  good  prince, 
now  a  propitious  god.     The  multitude,  hearing  this,  went 


ROMULUS.  73 

away  believing  and  rejoicing  in  hopes  of  good  things 
from  him ;  but  there  were  some,  who,  canvassing  the 
matter  in  a  hostile  temper,  accused  and  aspersed  the  pa- 
tricians, as  men  that  persuaded  the  people  to  believe 
ridiculous  tales,  when  they  themselves  were  the  murder- 
ers of  the  king. 

Things  being  in  this  disorder,  one,  they  say,  of  the  pa- 
tricians, of  noble  family  and  approved  good  character, 
and  a  faithfid  and  familiar  friend  of  Romulus  himself, 
having  come  with  him  from  Alba,  Julius  Proculus  by 
name,  presented  himself  in  the  forum ;  and,  taking  a 
most  sacred  oath,  protested  before  them  all,  that,  as  he 
was  travelling  on  the  road,  he  had  seen  Romulus  coming 
to  meet  him,  looking  taller  and  comelier  than  ever, 
dressed  in  shining  and  flaming  armor ;  and  he,  being 
affrighted  at  the  apparition,  said,  "  Why,  0  king,  or  for 
what  purpose  have  you  abandoned  us  to  unjust  and 
wicked  surmises,  and  the  whole  city  to  bereavement  and 
endless  sorrow?"  and  that  he  made  answer,  "It  pleased 
the  gods,  0  Proculus,  that  we,  who  came  from  them, 
should  remain  so  long  a  time  amongst  men  as  we  did  ; 
and,  having  built  a  city  to  be  the  greatest  in  the  world 
for  empire  and  glory,  should  again  return  to  heaven.  But 
farewell ;  and  tell  the  Romans,  that,  by  the  exercise  of 
temperance  and  fortitude,  they  shall  attain  the  height  of 
human  power ;  we  will  be  to  you  the  propitious  god  Qui- 
rinus."  This  seemed  credible  to  the  Romans,  upon  the 
honesty  and  oath  of  the  relater,  and  indeed,  too,  there 
mingled  with  it  a  certain  divine  passion,  some  preternatu- 
ral influence  similar  to  possession  by  a  divinity ;  nobody 
contradicted  it,  but,  laying  aside  all  jealousies  and  detrac- 
tions, they  prayed  to  Quirinus  and  saluted  him  as  a  god. 

This  is  like  some  of  the  Greek  fables  of  Aristeas  the 
Proconnesian,  and  Cleomedes  the  Astypalasan ;  for  they 
say  Aristeas  died  in  a  fuller's  work-shop,  and  his  friends, 


74  ROMULUS. 

coming  to  look  for  him,  found  his  body  vanished;  and 
that  some  presently  after,  coming  from  abroad,  said  they 
met  him  travelling  towards  Croton.  And  that  Cleomedes, 
being  an  extraordinarily  strong  and  gigantic  man,  but 
also  wild  and  mad,  committed  many  desperate  freaks ; 
and  at  last,  in  a  school-house,  striking  a  pillar  that  sus- 
tained the  roof  with  his  fist,  broke  it  in  the  middle,  so 
that  the  house  fell  and  destroyed  the  children  in  it ;  and 
being  pursued,  he  fled  into  a  great  chest,  and,  shutting  to 
the  lid,  held  it  so  fast,  that  many  men,  with  their  united 
strength,  could  not  force  it  open ;  afterwards,  breaking  the 
chest  to  pieces,  they  found  no  man  in  it  alive  or  dead ;  in 
astonishment  at  which,  the}'-  sent  to  consult  the  oracle  at 
Delphi ;  to  whom  the  prophetess  made  this  answer. 

Of  all  the  heroes,  Cleomede  is  last. 

They  say,  too,  the  body  of  Alcmena,  as  they  were  carry- 
ing her  to  her  grave,  vanished,  and  a  stone  was  found 
lying  on  the  bier.  And  many  such  improbabilities  do 
your  fabulous  writers  relate,  deifying  creatures  naturally 
mortal ;  for  though  altogether  to  disown  a  divine  nature 
in  human  virtue  were  impious  and  base,  so  again  to  mix 
heaven  with  earth  is  ridiculous.  Let  us  believe  with 
Pindar,  that 

All  human  bodies  yield  to  Death's  decree, 
The  soul  survives  to  all  eternity. 

For  that  alone  is  derived  from  the  gods,  thence  comes, 
and  thither  returns ;  not  with  the  body,  but  when  most 
disengaged  and  separated  from  it,  and  when  most  entirely 
pure  and  clean  and  free  from  the  flesh ;  for  the  most  per- 
fect soul,  says  Heraclitus,  is  a  dry  light,  which  flies  out  of 
the  body  as  lightning  breaks  from  a  cloud  ;  but  that 
which  is  clogged  and  surfeited  with  body  is  like  gross  and 


ROMULUS.  75 

humid  incense,  slow  to  kindle  and  ascend.  We  must  not, 
therefore,  contrary  to  nature,  send  the  bodies,  too,  of  good 
men  to  heaven ;  but  we  must  really  believe  that,  accord- 
ing to  their  divine  nature  and  law,  their  virtue  and  their 
souls  are  translated  out  of  men  into  heroes,  out  of  heroes 
into  demi-gods,  out  of  demi-gods,  after  passing,  as  in  the 
rite  of  initiation,  through  a  final  cleansing  and  sanctifica- 
tion,  and  so  freeing  themselves  from  all  that  pertains  to 
mortality  and  sense,  are  thus,  not  by  human  decree,  but 
really  and  according  to  right  reason,  elevated  into  gods, 
admitted  thus  to  the  greatest  and  most  blessed  perfec- 
tion. 

Romulus's  surname  Quirinus,  some  say,  is  equivalent  to 
Mars ;  others,  that  he  was  so  called  because  the  citizens 
v/ere  called  Quirites ;  others,  because  the  ancients  called 
a  dart  or  spear  Quiris ;  thus,  the  statue  of  Juno  resting 
on  a  spear  is  called  Quiritis,  and  the  dart  in  the  Regia  is 
addressed  as  Mars,  and  those  that  were  distinguished  in 
war  were  usually  presented  with  a  dart ;  that,  therefore, 
Romulus,  being  a  martial  god,  or  a  god  of  darts,  was 
called  Qumnus.  A  temple  is  certainly  built  to  his  honor 
on  the  mount  called  from  him  Quirinalis. 

The  day  he  vanished  on  is  called  the  Flight  of  the  Peo- 
ple, and  the  Nones  of  the  Goats,*  because  they  go  then 
out  of  the  city,  and  sacrifice  at  the  Goat's  Marsh,  and,  as 
they  go,  they  shout  out  some  of  the  Roman  names,  as 
Marcus,  Lucius,  Caius,  imitating  the  way  in  which  they 
then  fled  and  called  upon  one  another  in  that  fright  and 
hurry.  Some,  however,  say,  this  was  not  in  imitation  of 
a  flight,  but  of  a  quick  and  hasty  onset,  referring  it  to  the 
following  occasion :  after  the  Gauls  who  had  taken  Rome 
were  driven  out  by  Camillus,  and  the  city  was  scarcely 
as   yet   recovering   her    strength,  many  of  the    Latins, 

*  Populifugia,  NonsB  Caprotinae. 


76  ROMULUS. 

under  the  command  of  Livius  Postumius,  took  this  time 
to  march  against  her.     Postumius,  halting  not  far  from 
Rome,  sent  a   herald,  signifying   that    the    Latins  were 
desirous  to  renew  their  former  alliance  and  affinity  (that 
was  now  almost  decayed)  by  contracting  new  marriages 
between    both   nations ;    if,  therefore,  they   would  send 
forth  a  good  number  of  their  virgins  and  widows,  they 
should  have   peace  and  friendship,  such  as  the  Sabines 
had  formerly  had  on  the  like  conditions.     The  Eomans, 
hearing  this,  dreaded  a  war,  yet  thought  a  surrender  of 
their  women  little  better  than  mere  captivity.     Being  in 
this  doubt,  a  servant-maid  called  Philotis  (or,  as  some  say, 
Tutola),  advised  them  to  do  neither,  but,  by  a  stratagem, 
avoid  both  fighting  and  the  giving  up  of  such  pledges. 
The  stratagem  was  this,  that  they  should  send  herself, 
with  other  well-looking  servant-maids,  to  the  enemy,  in 
the  dress  of  free-born  virgins,  and  she  should  in  the  night 
light  up  a  fire-signal,  at  which  the  Romans  should  come 
armed  and  surprise  them  asleep.     The  Latins  were  thus 
deceived,  and  accordingly  Philotis  set  up  a  torch  in  a 
wild  fig-tree,  screening  it  behind  with  curtains  and  cover- 
lets from  the  sight  of  the  enemy,  while  visible  to  the 
Romans.     They,  when  they  saw  it,  eagerly  ran  out  of  the 
gates,  calling  in  their  haste  to  each  other  as  they  went 
out,  and  so,  falling  in  unexpectedly  upon  the  enemy,  they 
defeated  them,  and  upon  that  made  a  feast  of  triumph, 
called  the  Nones  of  the  Goats,  because  of  the  wild  fig-tree, 
called  by  the  Romans  Caprificus,  or  the  goat-fig.     They 
feast  the  women  without  the  city  in  arbors  made  of  fig- 
tree  boughs,  and  the  maid-servants  gather  together  and 
run  about  playing ;  afterwards  they  fight  in  sport,  and 
throw  stones  one  at  another,  in  memory  that  they  then 
aided  and  assisted  the  Roman  men  in  fight.     This  only  a 
few  authors  admit  for  true  ;  for  the  calling  upon  one  an- 
other's names  by  day  and  the  going  out  to  the  Goat's 


ROMULUS.  77 

Marsh  to  do  sacrifice  seem  to  agree  more  with  the 
former  story,  unless,  indeed,  we  shall  say  that  both  the 
actions  might  have  happened  on  the  same  day  in  differ- 
ent years.  It  was  in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  his  age  and 
the  thirty-eighth  of  his  reign  that  Romulus,  they  tell  us, 
left  the  world. 


COMPARISON  OF  ROMULUS  WITH  THESEUS. 


Tms  is  what  I  have  learnt  of  Romulus  and  Theseus, 
worthy  of  memory.  It  seems,  first  of  all,  that  Theseus, 
out  of  his  own  free-will,  without  any  compulsion,  when 
he  might  have  reigned  in  security  at  Troezen  in  the 
enjoyment  of  no  inglorious  empire,  of  his  own  motion 
affected  great  actions,  whereas  the  other,  to  escape  pre- 
sent servitude  and  a  punishment  that  threatened  him, 
(according  to  Plato's  phrase)  grew  valiant  purely  out  of 
fear,  and,  dreadmg  the  extremest  inflictions,  attempted 
great  enterprises  out  of  mere  necessity.  Again,  his 
greatest  action  was  only  the  killing  of  one  king  of  Alba ; 
while,  as  mere  by-adventures  and  preludes,  the  other  can 
name  Sciron,  Sinnis,  Procrustes,  and  Corynetes ;  by  redu- 
cing and  killing  of  whom,  he  rid  Greece  of  terrible  oppres- 
sors, before  any  of  them  that  were  relieved  knew  who 
did  it ;  moreover,  he  might  without  any  trouble  as  well 
have  gone  to  Athens  by  sea,  considering  he  himself  never 
was  in  the  least  injured  by  those  robbers ;  where  as  Romu- 
lus could  not  but  be  in  trouble  whilst  Amulius  lived. 
Add  to  this  the  fact  that  Theseus,  for  no  wTong  done  to 
himself,  but  for  the  sake  of  others,  fell  upon  these  vil- 
lains ;  but  Romulus  and  Remus,  as  long  as  they  themselves 
suffered  no  ill  by  the  tyrant,  permitted  him  to  oppress  aU 
others.  And  if  it  be  a  great  thing  to  have  been  wounded 
in  battle  by  the  Sabines,  to  have  killed  king  Acron,  and 
to  have  conquered  many  enemies,  we  may  oppose  to 
these  actions  the  battle  with  the  Centaurs  and  the  feats 
done  against   the  Amazons.     But  what  Theseus   adven- 

(78) 


THESEUS   AND   ROMULUS.  79 

tured,  111  offering  himself  volunttarily  with  young  boys 
and  virgins,  as  part  of  the  tribute  unto  Crete,  either  to  be 
a  prey  to  a  monster  or  a  victim  upon  the  tomb  of  Andro- 
gens, or,  according  to  the  mildest  form  of  the  story,  to 
live  vilely  and  dishonorably  in  slavery  to  insulting  and 
cruel  men ;  it  is  not  to  be  expressed  what  an  act  of  cou- 
rage, magnanimity,  or  justice  to  the  public,  or  of  love  for 
honor  and  bravery,  that  was.  So  that  methinks  the  phi- 
losophers did  not  ill  dejQne  love  to  be  the  provision  of  the 
gods  for  the  care  and  preservation  of  the  young ;  for  the 
love  of  Ariadne,  above  all,  seems  to  have  been  the  proper 
work  and  design  of  some  god  in  order  to  preserve  The- 
seus ;  and,  indeed,  we  ought  not  to  blame  her  for  loving 
him,  but  rather  wonder  all  men  and  women  were  not 
alike  affected  towards  him ;  and  if  she  alone  were  so, 
truly  I  dare  pronounce  her  worthy  of  the  love  of  a  god, 
who  was  herself  so  great  a  lover  of  virtue  and  goodness, 
and  the  bravest  man. 

Both  Theseus  and  Romulus  were  by  nature  meant  for 
governors;  yet  neither  lived  up  to  the  true  character 
of  a  king,  but  fell  off,  and  ran,  the  one  into  popularity, 
the  other  into  tyranny,  falling  both  into  the  same  fault 
out  of  different  passions.  For  a  ruler's  first  end  is  to  main- 
tain his  office,  which  is  done  no  less  by  avoiding  what  is 
unfit  than  by  observing  what  is  suitable.  Whoever  is 
either  too  remiss  or  too  strict  is  no  more  a  king  or  a 
governor,  but  either  a  demagogue  or  a  despot,  and  so  be- 
comes either  odious  or  contemptible  to  his  subjects. 
Though  certainly  the  one  seems  to  be  the  fault  of  easiness 
and  good-nature,  the  other  of  pride  and  severity. 

K  men's  calamities,  again,  are  not  to  be  wholly  imputed 
to  fortune,  but  refer  themselves  to  differences  of  charac- 
ter, who  will  acquit  either  Theseus  of  rash  and  unreason- 
able anger  against  his  son,  or  Romulus  against  his  brother  ? 
Looking   at  motives,  we  more  easily  excuse  the    anger 


80  THESEUS  AND   ROMULUS. 

which  a  stronger  cause,  like  a  severer  blow,  provoked 
Romulus,  having  disagreed  with  his  brother  advisedly 
and  deliberately  on  public  matter.s,  one  would  think  could 
not  on  a  sudden  have  been  put  into  so  great  a  passion ; 
but  love  and  jealousy  and  the  complaints  of  his  wife, 
which  few  men  can  avoid  being  moved  by,  seduced  The- 
seus to  commit  that  outrage  upon  his  son.  And  what  is 
more,  Romulus,  in  his  anger,  committed  an  action  of 
unfortunate  consequence;  but  that  of  Theseus  ended 
only  in  words,  some  evil  speaking,  and  an  old  man's 
curse ;  the  rest  of  the  youth's  disasters  seem  to  have  pro- 
ceeded from  fortune ;  so  that,  so  far,  a  man  would  give 
his  vote  on  These us's  part. 

But  Romulus  has,  first  of  all,  one  great  plea,  that  his 
performances  proceeded  from  very  small  beginnings;  for 
both  the  brothers  being  thought  servants  and  the  sons  of 
swineherds,  before  becoming  freemen  themselves,  gave 
liberty  to  almost  all  the  Latins,  obtaining  at  once  all  the 
most  honorable  titles,  as  destroyers  of  their  country's 
enemies,  preservers  of  their  friends  and  kindred,  princes 
of  the  people,  founders  of  cities,  not  removers,  like  The- 
seus, who  raised  and  compiled  only  one  house  out  of  many, 
demolishing  many  cities  bearing  the  names  of  ancient 
kings  and  heroes.  Romulus,  indeed,  did  the  same  after- 
wards, forcing  his  enemies  to  deface  and  ruin  their  own 
dwellings,  and  to  sojourn  with  their  conquerors;  but  at 
first,  not  by  removal,  or  increase  of  an  existing  city,  but 
by  foundation  of  a  new  one,  he  obtained  himself  lands,  a 
country,  a  kingdom,  wives,  children,  and  relations.  And, 
in  so  doing,  he  killed  or  destroyed  nobody,  but  benefited 
those  that  wanted  houses  and  homes  and  were  willing  to 
be  of  a  society  and  become  citizens.  Robbers  and  male- 
factors he  slew  not ;  but  he  subdued  nations,  he  overthrew 
cities,  he  triumphed  over  kings  and  commanders.  As  to 
Remus,  it  is  doubtful  by  whose  hand  he  fell ;  it  is  gene- 


THESEUS   AND   ROMULUS.  81 

rally  imputed  to  others.  His  mother  he  clearly  retrieved 
from  death,  and  placed  his  grandfather,  who  was  hroiight 
under  base  and  dishonorable  vassalage,  on  the  ancient 
throne  of  jEneas,  to  whom  he  did  voluntarily  many  good 
offices,  but  never  did  him  harm  even  inadvertently.  But 
Theseus,  in  his  forgetfulness  and  neglect  of  the  command 
concerning  the  flag,  can  scarcely,  me  thinks,  by  any  ex- 
cuses, or  before  the  most  indulgent  judges,  avoid  the  im- 
putation of  parricide.  And,  indeed,  one  of  the  Attic  wri- 
ters, perceiving  it  to  be  very  hard  to  make  an  excuse  for 
this,  feigns  that  ^geus,  at  the  approach  of  the  ship,  running 
hastily  to  the  Acropolis  to  see  what  news,  slipped  and  fell 
down,  as  if  he  had  no  servants,  or  none  would  attend  him 
on  his  way  to  the  shore. 

And,  indeed,  the  faults  committed  in  the  rapes  of 
women  admit  of  no  plausible  excuse  in  Theseus.  First, 
because  of  the  often  repetition  of  the  crime ;  for  he  stole 
Ariadne,  Antiope,  Anaxo  the  Troezenian,  at  last  Helen, 
when  he  was  an  old  man,  and  she  not  marriageable  ;  she 
a  child,  and  he  at  an  age  past  even  lawful  wedlock. 
Then,  on  account  of  the  cause ;  for  the  Troezenian,  Lace- 
daemonian, and  Amazonian  virgins,  beside  that  they  were 
not  betrothed  to  him,  were  not  worthier  to  raise  children 
by  than  the  Athenian  women,  derived  from  Erechtheus 
and  Cecrops ;  but  it  is  to  be  suspected  these  things  were 
done  out  of  wantonness  and  lust.  Romulus,  when  he  had 
taken  near  eight  hundred  women,  chose  not  all.  but  only 
Hersilia,  as  they  say,  for  himself;  the  rest  he  divided 
among  the  chief  of  the  city  ;  and  afterwards,  by  the  re- 
spect and  tenderness  and  justice  shown  towards  them,  he 
made  it  clear  that  this  violence  and  injury  was  a  com- 
mendable and  politic  exploit  to  establish  a  society ;  by 
which  he  intermixed  and  united  both  nations,  and  made 
it  the  fountain  of  after  friendship  and  public  stability. 
And  to  the  reverence  and  love  and  constancy  he  esta- 

VOL.    I.  6 


82  THESEUS   AND   ROMULUS. 

blished  in  matrimony,  time  can  witness ;  for  in  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years,  neither  any  husband  deserted  his 
wife,  nor  any  wife  her  hasband  ;  but,  as  the  curious  among 
the  Greeks  can  name  the  first  case  of  parricide  or  matri- 
cide, so  the  Romans  all  well  know  that  Spurius  Carvilius 
was  the  first  who  put  away  his  wife,  accusing  her  of  bar- 
renness. The  immediate  results  were  similar ;  for  upon 
those  marriages  the  two  princes  shared  in  the  dominion, 
and  both  nations  fell  under  the  same  government.  But 
from  the  marriages  of  Theseus  proceeded  nothing  of 
friendship  or  correspondence  for  the  advantage  of  com- 
merce, but  enmities  and  wars  and  the  slaughter  of  citi- 
zens, and,  at  last,  the  loss  of  the  city  Aphidnae,  when  only 
out  of  the  compassion  of  the  enemy,  whom  they  entreated 
and  caressed  like  gods,  they  escaped  suffering  what  Troy 
did  by  Paris.  Theseus's  mother,  however,  was  not  only 
in  danger,  but  suffered  actually  what  Hecuba  did,  desert- 
ed and  neglected  by  her  son,  unless  her  captivity  be  not 
a  fiction,  as  I  could  wish  both  that  and  other  things  were. 
The  circumstances  of  the  divine  intervention,  said  to  have 
preceded  or  accompanied  their  births,  are  also  in  contrast ; 
for  Romulus  was  preserved  by  the  special  favor  of  the 
gods ;  but  the  oracle  given  to  ^geus,  commanding  him 
to  abstain,  seems  to  demonstrate  that  the  birth  of  The- 
seus was  not  agreeable  to  the  will  of  the  gods. 


LYCURGUS. 


There  is  so  much  uncertainty  in  the  accounts  which 
historians  have  left  us  of  Lycurgus,  the  lawgiver  of  Sparta, 
that  scarcely  any  thing  is  asserted  by  one  of  them  which 
is  not  called  into  question  or  contradicted  by  the  rest. 
Their  sentiments  are  quite  different  as  to  the  family  he 
came  of,  the  voyages  he  undertook,  the  place  and  man- 
ner of  his  death,  but  most  of  all  when  they  speak  of  the 
laws  he  made  and  the  commonwealth  which  he  founded. 
They  cannot,  by  any  means,  be  brought  to  an  agreement 
as  to  the  very  age  in  which  he  lived ;  for  some  of  them 
say  that  he  flourished  in  the  time  of  Iphitus,  and  that 
they  two  jointly  contrived  the  ordinance  for  the  cessation 
of  arms  during  the  solemnity  of  the  Olympic  games.  Of 
this  opinion  was  Aristotle  ;  and  for  confirmation  of  it,  he 
alleges  an  inscription  upon  one  of  the  copper  quoits  used 
in  those  sports,  upon  which  the  name  of  Lycurgus  contin- 
ued uneffaced  to  his  time.  But  Eratosthenes  and  Apollo- 
dorus  and  other  chronologers,  computing  the  time  by  the 
succe^ions  of  the  Spartan  kings,  pretend  to  demonstrate 
that  he  was  much  more  ancient  than  the  institution  of 
the  Olympic  games.  Timoeus  conjectures  that  there  were 
two  of  this  name,  and  in  diverse  times,  but  that  the  one  of 
them  being  much  more  famous  than  the  other,  men  gave 
to  him  the  glory  of  the  exploits  of  both  ;  the  elder  of  the 

(  83) 


84  LYCURGUS. 

two,  according  to  him,  was  not  long  after  Homer ;  and 
some  are  so  particular  as  to  say  that  he  had  seen  him. 
But  that  he  was  of  great  antiquity  may  be  gathered  from 
a  passage  in  Xenophon,  where  he  makes  him  contempo- 
rary with  the  Heraclidae.  By  descent,  indeed,  the  very 
last  kings  of  Sparta  were  HeraclidsB  too  ;  but  he  seems  in 
that  place  to  speak  of  the  first  and  more  immediate  suc- 
cessors of  Hercules.  But  notwithstanding  this  confusion 
and  obscurity,  we  shall  endeavor  to  compose  the  history 
of  his  life,  adhering  to  those  statements  which  are  least 
contradicted,  and  depending  upon  those  authors  who  are 
most  worthy  of  credit. 

The  poet  Simonides  will  have  it  that  Lycurgus  was  the 
son  of  Prytanis,  and  not  of  Eunomus ;  but  in  this  opinion 
he  is  singular,  for  all  the  rest  deduce  the  genealogy  of 
them  both  as  follows :  — 

Aristodemus. 

I 
Patrocles. 

I 
Soiis. 

I 
Eurypon. 

I 
Eunomus. 

I 

, ^ ^ , 

Polydectes  by  his  first  wife.  Lycurgus  by  Dionassa  his  second. 

Dieuchidas  says  he  was  the  sixth  from  Patrocles  and  the 
eleventh  from  Hercules.  Be  this  as  it  will.  Soils  certain- 
ly was  the  most  renowned  of  all  his  ancestors,  under 
whose  conduct  the  Spartans  made  slaves  of  the  Helots, 
and  added  to  their  dominions,  by  conquest,  a  good  part 
of  Arcadia.  There  goes  a  story  of  this  king  Soiis,  that, 
being  besieged  by  the  Clitorians  in  a  dry  and  stony  place 
so  that  he  could  come  at  no  water,  he  was  at  last  con- 
strained to  agree  with  them  upon  these  terms,  that  he 
would  restore  to  them  all  his  conquests,  provided  that 
himself  and  all  bis   men   should   drink   of  the   nearest 


LYCURGUS.  85 

spring.  After  the  usual  oaths  and  ratifications,  he  called 
his  soldiers  together,  and  offered  to  him  that  would  for- 
bear drinking,  his  kingdom  for  a  reward ;  and  when  not  a 
man  of  them  was  able  to  forbear,  in  short,  when  they  had 
all  drunk  their  fill,  at  last  comes  king  Soils  himself  to  the 
spring,  and,  having  sprinkled  his  face  only,  without  swal- 
lowing one  drop,  marches  off  in  the  face  of  his  enemies, 
refusing  to  yield  up  his  conquests,  because  himself  and 
all  his  men  had  not,  according  to  the  articles,  drunk  of 
their  water. 

Although  he  was  justly  had  in  admiration  on  this 
account,  yet  his  family  was  not  surnamed  from  him,  but 
from  his  son  Eurypon  (of  whom  they  were  called  Eury- 
pontids) ;  the  reason  of  which  was  that  Eurypon  relaxed 
the  rigor  of  the  monarchy,  seeking  favor  and  popularity 
with  the  many.  They,  after  this  first  step,  grew  bolder; 
and  the  succeeding  kings  partly  incurred  hatred  with  their 
people  by  trying  to  use  force,  or,  for  popularity's  sake 
and  through  weakness,  gave  way ;  and  anarchy  and  con- 
fusion long  prevailed  in  Sparta,  causing,  moreover,  the 
death  of  the  father  of  Lycurgus.  For  as  he  was  endeav- 
oring to  quell  a  riot,  he  was  stabbed  with  a  butcher's 
knife,  and  left  the  title  of  king  to  his  eldest  son  Poly- 
dectes. 

He,  too,  dying  soon  after,  the  right  of  succession  (as 
every  one  thought)  rested  in  Lj^curgus ;  and  reign  he 
did,  until  it  was  found  that  the  queen,  his  sister-in-law, 
was  with  child ;  upon  which  he  immediately  declared 
that  the  kingdom  belonged  to  her  issue,  provided  it  were 
male,  and  that  he  himself  exercised  the  regal  jurisdiction 
only  as  his  guardian  ;  the  Spartan  name  for  which  office 
\s  prodicus.  Soon  after,  an  overture  was  made  to  him  by 
the  queen,  that  she  would  herself  in  some  way  destroy  the 
infant,  upon  condition  that  he  would  marry  her  when 
he  came  to  the  crown.     Abhorring  the  woman's  wicked- 


86  LYCURGUS. 

ness,  he  nevertheless  did  not  reject  her  proposal,  but, 
making  show  of  closing  with  her,  despatched  the  messen- 
ger with  thanks  and  expressions  of  joy,  but  dissuaded 
her  earnestly  from  procuring  herself  to  miscarry,  which 
would  impair  her  health,  if  not  endanger  her  life  ;  he 
himself,  he  said,  would  see  to  it,  that  the  child,  as  soon  as 
born,  should  be  taken  out  of  the  way.  By  such  arti- 
fices having  drawn  on  the  woman  to  the  time  of  her 
lying-in,  as  soon  as  he  heard  that  she  was  in  labor,  he 
sent  persons  to  be  by  and  observe  all  that  passed,  with 
orders  that  if  it  were  a  girl  they  should  deliver  it  to  the 
women,  but  if  a  boy,  should  bring  it  to  him  whereso- 
ever he  were,  and  whatsoever  doing.  It  so  fell  out  that 
when  he  was  at  supper  with  the  principal  magistrates  the 
queen  was  brought  to  bed  of  a  boy,  who  was  soon  after 
presented  to  him  as  he  was  at  the  table  ;  he,  taking  him 
into  his  arms,  said  to  those  about  him,  "  Men  of  Sparta, 
here  is  a  king  born  unto  us ; "  this  said,  he  laid  him  down 
in  the  king's  place,  and  named  him  Charilaus,  that  is, 
the  joy  of  the  people  ;  because  that  all  were  transported 
with  joy  and  with  wonder  at  his  noble  and  just  spirit. 
His  reign  had  lasted  only  eight  months,  but  he  was  hon- 
ored on  other  accounts  by  the  citizens,  and  there  were 
more  who  obeyed  him  because  of  his  eminent  virtues, 
than  because  he  was  regent  to  the  king  and  had  the 
royal  power  in  his  hands.  Some,  however,  envied  and 
sought  to  impede  his  growing  influence  while  he  was  still 
young;  chiefly  the  kindred  and  friends  of  the  queen- 
mother,  who  pretended  to  have  been  dealt  with  injuri- 
ously. Her  brother  Leonidas,  in  a  warm  debate  which 
fell  out  betwixt  him  and  Lycurgus,  went  so  far  as  to  tell 
him  to  his  face  that  he  was  well  assured  that  ere  long  he 
should  see  him  king ;  suggesting  suspicions  and  preparing 
the  way  for  an  accusation  of  him,  as  though  he  had 
made  away  with  his  nephew,  if  the  child  should  chance 


LYCURGUS.  87 

to  fail,  though  by  a  natural  death.  Words  of  the  like 
import  were  designedly  cast  abroad  by  the  queen-mother 
and  her  adherents. 

Troubled  at  this,  and  not  knowing  what  it  might  come 
to,  he  thought  it  his  wisest  course  to  avoid  their  envy  by 
a  voluntary  exile,  and  to  travel  from  place  to  place  until 
his  nephew  came  to  marriageable  years,  and,  by  having  a 
son,  had  secured  the  succession;  setting  sail,  therefore, 
with  this  resolution,  he  first  arrived  at  Crete,  where,  hav- 
ing considered  their  several  forms  of  government,  and 
got  an  acquaintance  with  the  principal  men  amongst 
them,  some  of  their  laws  he  very  much  approved  of,  and 
resolved  to  make  use  of  them  in  his  own  country  ;  a 
good  part  he  rejected  as  useless.  Amongst  the  persons 
there  the  most  renowned  for  their  learning  and  their 
wisdom  in  state  matters  was  one  Thales,  whom  Lycurgus, 
by  importunities  and  assurances  of  friendship,  persuaded 
to  go  over  to  Lacedsemon ;  where,  though  by  his  outward 
appearance  and  his  own  profession  he  seemed  to  be  no 
other  than  a  lyric  poet,  in  reality  he  performed  the  part 
of  one  of  the  ablest  lawgivers  in  the  world.  The  very 
songs  which  he  composed  were  exhortations  to  obedience 
and  concord,  and  the  very  measure  and  cadence  of  the 
verse,  conveying  impressions  of  order  and  tranquillity, 
had  so  great  an  influence  on  the  minds  of  the  listeners, 
that  they  were  insensibly  softened  and  civilized,  insomuch 
that  they  renounced  their  private  feuds  and  animosities, 
and  were  reunited  in  a  common  admiration  of  virtue. 
So  that  it  may  truly  be  said  that  Thales  prepared  the 
way  for  the  discipline  introduced  by  Lycurgus. 

From  Crete  he  sailed  to  Asia,  with  design,  as  is  said, 
to  examine  the  difi'ereuce  betwixt  the  manners  and  rules 
of  life  of  the  Cretans,  which  were  very  sober  and  tempe- 
rate, and  those  of  the  lonians,  a  people  of  sumptuous  and 
delicate  habits,  and  so  to  form  a  judgment;  just  as  phy- 


88  LYCURGUS. 

sicians  do  by  comparing  healthy  and  diseased  bodies. 
Here  he  had  the  first  sight  of  Homer's  works,  in  the 
hands,  we  may  suppose,  of  the  posterity  of  Creophylus ; 
and,  having  observed  that  the  few  loose  expressions  and 
actions  of  ill  example  which  are  to  be  found  in  his  poema 
were  much  outweighed  by  serious  lessons  of  state  and 
rules  of  morality,  he  set  himself  eagerly  to  transcribe 
and  digest  them  into  order,  as  thinking  they  would  be  of 
good  use  in  his  own  country.  They  had,  indeed,  already 
obtained  some  slight  repute  amongst  the  Greeks,  and  scat- 
tered portions,  as  chance  conveyed  them,  were  in  the  hands 
of  individuals ;  but  Lycurgus  first  made  them  really  known. 

The  Egyptians  say  that  he  took  a  voyage  into  Egypt, 
and  that,  being  much  taken  with  their  way  of  separating 
the  soldiery  from  the  rest  of  the  nation,  he  transferred  it 
from  them  to  Sparta,  a  removal  from  contact  with  those 
employed  in  low  and  mechanical  occupations  giving  high 
refinement  and  beauty  to  the  state.  Some  Greek  writers 
also  record  this.  But  as  for  his  voyages  into  Spain,  Africa, 
and  the  Indies,  and  his  conferences  there  with  the  Gym- 
nosophists,  the  whole  relation,  as  far  as  I  can  find,  rests 
on  the  single  credit  of  the  Spartan  Aristocrates,  the  son 
of  Hipparchus. 

Lycurgus  was  much  missed  at  Sparta,  and  often  sent 
for,  "  for  kings  indeed  we  have,"  they  said,  "  who  wear 
the  marks  and  assume  the  titles  of  royalty,  but  as  for  the 
qualities  of  their  minds,  they  have  nothing  by  which  they 
are  to  be  distinguished  from  their  subjects ; "  adding,  that 
in  him  alone  was  the  true  foundation  of  sovereignty  to 
be  seen,  a  nature  made  to  rule,  and  a  genius  to  gain  obe- 
dience. Nor  were  the  kings  themselves  averse  to  see 
him  back,  for  they  looked  upon  his  presence  as  a  bul- 
wark against  the  insolencies  of  the  people. 

Things  being  in  this  posture  at  his  return,  he  applied 
himself,  without  loss  of  time,  to  a  thorough  reformation, 


LYCURGUS.  89 

and  resolved  to  change  the  whole  face  of  the  common- 
wealth ;  for  what  could  a  few  particular  laws  and  a  par- 
tial alteration  avail  ?     He  must  act  as  wise  physicians  do, 
in  the  case  of  one  who  labors  under  a  complication  of 
diseases,  by  force  of  medicines  reduce  and  exhaust  him, 
change  his  whole  temperament,  and  then  set  him  upon  a 
totally   new   regimen   of  diet.     Having   thus   projected 
things,  away  he  goes  to  Delphi  to  considt  Apollo  there ; 
which  having  done,  and  offered  his  sacrifice,  he  returned 
with  that  renowned  oracle,  in  which  he  is  called  beloved 
of  God,  and  rather  God  than  man ;  that  his  prayers  were 
heard,  that  his  laws  shoidd  be  the  best,  and  the  common- 
wealth which  observed  them   the   most  famous   in    the 
world.     Encouraged  by  these  things,  he  set  himself  to 
bring  over  to  his  side  the  leading  men  of  Sparta,  exhort- 
ing them  to  give  him  a  helping  hand  in  his  great  under- 
taking ;  he  broke  it  first  to  his  particular  friends,  and 
then  by  degrees  gained  others,  and  animated  them  all  to 
put  his  design  in  execution.     When  things  were  ripe  for 
action,  he  gave  order  to  thirty  of  the  principal  men  of 
Sparta  to  be  ready  armed  at  the  market-place  by  break 
of  day,  to  the  end  that  he  might  strike  a  terror  into  the 
opposite  party.     Hermippus  hath  set  down  the  names  of 
twenty  of  the  most  eminent  of  them ;  but  the  name  of 
him  whom  Lycurgus  most  confided  in,  and  who  was  of 
most  use  to  him,  both  in  making  his  laws  and  putting 
them  in  execution,  was  Arthmiadas.     Things  growing  to 
a  tumult,  king  Charilaus,  apprehending  that  it  was  a  con- 
spiracy against  his  person,  took  sanctuary  in  the  temple 
of  Minerva  of  the  Brazen  House ;  but,  being  soon  after 
undeceived,  and  having  taken  an  oath  of  them  that  they 
had  no  designs  against  him,  he  quitted   his  refuge,  and 
himself  also  entered  into  the  confederacy  with  them ;  of 
BO  gentle  and  flexible  a  disposition  he  was,  to  which  Ar- 
chelaus,  his  brother-king,  alluded,  when,  hearing  hun  ex- 


90  LYCURGUS. 

tolled  for  his  goodness,  he  said,  "  Who  can  say  he  is  any 
thing  but  good  ?  he  is  so  even  to  the  bad." 

Amongst  the  many  changes  and  alterations  which  Ly- 
curgus  made,  the  first  and  of  greatest  importance  was  the 
establishment  of  the  senate,  which,  having  a  power  equal 
to  the  kings'  in  matters  of  great  consequence,  and,  as  Plato 
expresses  it,  allaying  and  qualifying  the  fiery  genius  of 
the  royal  office,  gave  steadiness  and  safety  to  the  com- 
monwealth.     For  the   state,  which   before  had  no  firm 
basis  to  stand  upon,  but  leaned  one  while  towards  an  ab- 
solute monarchy,  when  the  kings  had   the  upper  hand, 
and  another  while  towards  a  pure  democracy,  when  the 
people  had  the  better,  found  in  this  establishment  of  the 
senate  a  central  weight,  like    ballast   in  a  ship,  which 
always  kept  things  in  a  just  equilibrium;    the  twenty- 
eight  always  adhering  to  the  kings  so  far  as  to  resist  de- 
mocracy, and,  on  the  other  hand,  supporting  the  people 
against  the  establishment  of  absolute  monarchy.     As  for 
the  determinate  number  of  twenty-eight,  Aristotle  states, 
that  it  so  fell  out  because  two  of  the  original  associates, 
for  want  of  courage,  fell  off  from  the  enterprise ;  but 
Sphaerus  assures  us  that  there  were  but  twenty-eight  of 
the  confederates  at  first ;  perhaps  there  is  some  mystery 
in  the  number,  which  consists  of  seven  multiplied  by  four, 
and  is  the  first  of  perfect  numbers  after  six,  being,  as  that 
is,  equal  to  all  its  parts.*     For  my  part,  I  believe  Lycur- 
gus  fixed  upon  the  number  of  twenty-eight,  that,  the  two 
kings  being  reckoned  amongst  them,  they  might  be  thirty 
in  all.     So  eagerly  set  was  he  upon  this  estabhshment, 
that  he  took  the  trouble  to  obtain  an  oracle  about  it  from 
Delphi,  the  Rhetra,  which  runs  thus  :    "  After  that  you 
have  built  a  temple  to  Jupiter  Hellanius,  and  to  Minerva 
Hellania,  and  after  that  you  have  phyle'd  the  people  into 
fhylcs,  and  oMd  them  into  ohes,  you  shall  establish  a  coun- 

*  14,  2,  7,  4,  1,  make  by  addition  28;  as  3,  2,  1,  make  6. 


LYCURGUS.  91 

cil  of  thirty  elders,  the  leaders  included,  and  shall,  from 
time  to  time,  apellcizein  the  people  betwixt  Babyea  and 
Cnacion,  there  propound  and  put  to  the  vote.  The  com- 
mons have  the  final  voice  and  decision."  By  phf/les  and 
ohes  are  meant  the  divisions  of  the  people  ;  by  the  leadersy 
the  two  kings  ;  apellazein,  referring  to  the  Pythian  Apollo, 
signifies  to  assemble  ;  Babyea  and  Cnacion  they  now 
call  (Enus ;  Aristotle  says  Cnacion  is  a  river,  and  Babyea 
a  bridge.  Betwixt  this  Babyea  and  Cnacion,  their  assem- 
blies were  held,  for  they  had  no  council-house  or  building 
to  meet  in.  Lycurgus  was  of  opinion  that  ornaments 
were  so  far  from  advantaging  them  in  their  counsels,  that 
they  were  rather  an  hinderance,  by  diverting  their  atten- 
tion from  the  business  before  them  to  statues  and  pic- 
tures, and  roofs  curiously  fretted,  the  usual  embellish- 
ments of  such  places  amongst  the  other  Greeks.  The 
people  then  being  thus  assembled  in  the  open  air,  it  was 
not  allowed  to  any  one  of  their  order  to  give  his  advice, 
but  only  either  to  ratify  or  reject  what  should  be  pro- 
pounded to  them  by  the  king  or  senate.  But  because  it 
fell  out  afterwards  that  the  people,  by  adding  or  omitting 
words,  distorted  and  perverted  the  sense  of  propositions, 
kings  Polydorus  and  Theopompus  inserted  into  the  Rhe- 
tra,  or  grand  covenant,  the  following  clause  :  "  That  if 
the  people  decide  crookedly,  it  should  be  lawful  for  the 
elders  and  leaders  to  dissolve  ; "  that  is  to  say,  refuse  rati- 
fication, and  dismiss  the  people  as  depravers  and  pervert- 
ers  of  their  counsel.  It  passed  among  the  people,  by 
their  management,  as  being  equally  authentic  with  the 
rest  of  the  Rhetra,  as  appears  by  these  verses  of  T}'t- 
taeus,  — 

These  oracles  they  from  Apollo  heard, 
And  brought  from  Pytho  home  the  perfect  word : 
Tlie  heaven-appointed  kings,  who  love  the  land. 
Shall  foremorit  in  the  nation's  council  stand ; 


92  LYCURGUS. 

The  elders  next  to  them ;  the  commons  last ; 
Let  a  straight  Rhetra  among  all  be  passed. 

Although  Lycurgus  had,  in  this  manner,  used  all  the 
qualifications  possible  in  the  constitution  of  his  common- 
wealth, yet  those  who  succeeded  him  found  the  oligarchi- 
cal element  still  too  strong  and  dominant,  and,  to  check 
its  high  temper  and  its  violence,  put,  as  Plato  says,  a  bit 
in  its  mouth,  which  was  the  power  of  the  ephori,  esta- 
blished an  hundred  and  thirty  years  after  the  death  of 
Lycurgus.  Elatus  and  his  colleagues  were  the  first  who 
had  this  dignity  conferred  upon  them,  in  the  reign  of 
king  Theopompus,  who,  when  his  queen  upbraided  him 
one  day  that  he  would  leave  the  regal  power  to  his  child- 
ren less  than  he  had  received  it  from  his  ancestors,  said, 
in  answer,  "No,  greater;  for  it  will  last  longer."  For, 
indeed,  their  prerogative  being  thus  reduced  within  rea- 
sonable bounds,  the  Spartan  kings  were  at  once  freed 
from  all  further  jealousies  and  consequent  danger,  and 
never  experienced  the  calamities  of  their  neighbors  at 
Messene  and  Argos,  who,  by  maintaining  their  preroga- 
tive too  strictly,  for  want  of  yielding  a  little  to  the  popu- 
lace, lost  it  all. 

Indeed,  whosoever  shall  look  at  the  sedition  and  mis- 
government  which  befell  these  bordering  nations  to  whom 
they  were  as  near  related  in  blood  as  situation,  will  find 
in  them  the  best  reason  to  admire  the  wisdom  and  fore- 
sight of  Lycurgus.  For  these  three  states,  in  their  first  rise, 
were  equal,  or,  if  there  were  any  odds,  they  lay  on  the 
side  of  the  Messenians  and  Argives,  who,  in  the  first  allot- 
ment, were  thought  to  have  been  luckier  than  the  Spar- 
tans ;  yet  was  their  happiness  but  of  small  continuance, 
partly  the  tyrannical  temper  of  their  kings  and  partly  the 
ungovernableness  of  the  people  quickly  bringing  upon 
them  such  disorders,  and  so  complete  an  overthrow  of  all 
existing  institutions,  as  clearly  to  show  how  trul}^  divine  a 


LTCURGUS.  93 

blessing  the  Spartans  had  had  in  that  wise  lawgiver  who 
gave  their  government  its  happy  balance  and  temper 
But  of  this  I  shall  say  more  in  its  due  place. 

After  the  creation  of  the  thirty  senators,  his  next  task, 
and,  indeed,  the  most  hazardous  he  ever  undertook,  was 
the  making  a  new  division  of  their  lands.  For  there  was 
an  extreme  inequalitj-  amongst  them,  and  their  state  was 
overloaded  with  a  multitude  of  indigent  and  necessitous 
persons,  while  its  whole  wealth  had  centered  upon  a  very 
few.  To  the  end,  therefore,  that  he  might  expel  from  the 
state  arrogance  and  envy,  luxury  and  crime,  and  those 
yet  more  inveterate  diseases  of  want  and  superfluity,  he 
obtained  of  them  to  renounce  their  properties,  and  to  con- 
sent to  a  new  division  of  the  land,  and  that  they  should 
live  all  together  on  an  equal  footing ;  merit  to  be  their 
only  road  to  eminence,  and  the  disgrace  of  evil,  and  credit 
of  worthy  acts,  their  one  measure  of  difference  between 
man  and  man. 

Upon  their  consent  to  these  proposals,  proceeding  at 
once  to  put  them  into  execution,  he  divided  the  country 
of  Laconia  in  general  into  thirty  thousand  equal  shares, 
and  the  part  attached  to  the  city  of  Sparta  into  nine 
thousand ;  these  he  distributed  among  the  Spartans,  as  he 
did  the  others  to  the  country  citizens.  Some  authors  say 
that  he  made  but  six  thousand  lots  for  the  citizens  of 
Sparta,  and  that  king  Polydorus  added  three  thousand 
more.  Others  say  that  Polydorus  doubled  the  number 
Lycurgus  had  made,  which,  according  to  them,  was  but 
four  thousand  five  hundred,  A  lot  Avas  so  much  as  to 
yield,  one  year  with  another,  about  seventy  bushels  of 
grain  for  the  master  of  the  family,  and  twelve  for  his 
wife,  with  a  suitable  proportion  of  oil  and  wine.  And  this 
he  thought  sufficient  to  keep  their  bodies  in  good  health 
and  strength ;  superfluities  they  were  better  without.  It 
is  reported,  that,  as  he  returned  from  a  journey  shortly 


94  LYCURGUS. 

after  the  division  of  the  lands,  in  harvest  time,  the  ground 
being  newly  reaped,  seeing  the  stacks  all  standing  equal 
and  alike,  he  smiled,  and  said  to  those  about  him,  "  Me- 
thinks  all  Laconia  looks  like  one  family  estate  just  divided 
amons;  a  number  of  brothers." 

Not  contented  with  this,  he  resolved  to  make  a  division 
of  their  movables  too,  that  there  might  be  no  odious  di- 
stinction or  inequality  left  amongst  them ;  but  finding  that 
it  would  be  very  dangerous  to  go  about  it  openly,  he 
took  another  course,  and  defeated  their  avarice  by  the 
following  stratagem:  he  commanded  that  all  gold  and 
silver  coin  should  be  called  in,  and  that  only  a  sort  of 
money  made  of  iron  should  be  current,  a  great  weight 
and  quantity  of  which  was  but  very  little  worth ;  so  that 
to  lay  up  twenty  or  thirty  pounds  there  was  required  a 
pretty  large  closet,  and,  to  remove  it,  nothing  less  than 
a  yoke  of  oxen.  With  the  dififasion  of  this  money,  at 
once  a  number  of  vices  were  banished  from  Lacedaimon ; 
for  who  would  rob  another  of  such  a  coin  ?  Who  would 
unjustly  detain  or  take  by  force,  or  accept  as  a  bribe,  a 
thing  which  it  was  not  easy  to  hide,  nor  a  credit  to  have, 
nor  indeed  of  any  use  to  cut  in  pieces  ?  For  when  it  was 
just  red  hot,  they  quenched  it  in  vinegar,  and  by  that 
means  spoilt  it,  and  made  it  almost  incapable  of  being 
worked. 

In  the  next  place,  he  declared  an  outlawry  of  all  need- 
less and  superfluous  arts  j  but  here  he  might  almost  have 
spared  his  proclamation;  for  they  of  themselves  would 
have  gons  after  the  gold  and  silver,  the  money  which 
remained  being  not  so  proper  payment  for  curious  work ; 
for,  being  of  iron,  it  was  scarcely  portable,  neither,  if  they 
should  take  the  pains  to  export  it,  would  it  pass  amongst 
the  other  Greeks,  who  ridiculed  it.  So  there  was  now  no 
more  means  of  purchasing  foreign  goods  and  small  wares; 
merchants  sent  no  shiploads  into  Laconian  ports  ;  no  rhe- 


LYCURGUS.  95 

toric-master,  no  itinerant  fortune-teller,  no  harlotrmonger, 
or  gold  or  silversmith,  engraver,  or  jeweller,  set  foot  in  a 
country  which  had  no  money ;  so  that  luxury,  deprived 
little  by  little  of  that  which  fed  and  fomented  it,  wasted 
to  nothing,  and  died  away  of  itself  For  the  rich  had  no 
advantage  here  over  the  poor,  as  their  wealth  and  abun- 
dance had  no  road  to  come  abroad  by,  but  were  shut  up 
at  home  doing  nothing.  And  in  this  way  they  became 
excellent  artists  in  common,  necessary  things  ;  bedsteads, 
chairs,  and  tables,  and  such  like  staple  utensils  in  a  family, 
were  admirably  well  made  there  ;  their  cup,  particularly, 
was  very  much  in  fashion,  and  eagerly  bought  up  by  sol- 
diers, as  Critias  reports  ;  for  its  color  was  such  as  to  pre- 
vent water,  drunk  upon  necessity  and  disagreeable  to 
look  at,  from  being  noticed  ;  and  the  shape  of  it  was  such 
that  the  mud  stuck  to  the  sides,  so  that  only  the  purer 
part  came  to  the  drinker's  mouth.  For  this,  also,  they  had 
to  thank  their  lawgiver,  who,  by  relieving  the  artisans  of 
the  trouble  of  making  useless  things,  set  them  to  show 
their  skill  in  giving  beauty  to  those  of  daily  and  indi- 
spensable use. 

The  third  and  most  masterly  stroke  of  this  great  law- 
giver, by  which  he  struck  a  yet  more  effectual  blow 
against  luxury  and  the  desire  of  riches,  was  the  ordinance 
he  made,  that  they  should  all  eat  in  common,  of  the  same 
bread  and  same  meat,  and  of  kinds  that  were  specified, 
and  should  not  spend  their  lives  at  home,  laid  on  costly 
couches  at  splendid  tables,  delivering  themselves  up  into 
the  hands  of  their  tradesmen  and  cooks,  to  fatten  them  in 
corners,  like  greedy  brutes,  and  to  ruin  not  their  minds 
only  but  their  very  bodies,  which,  enfeebled  by  indul- 
gence and  excess,  would  stand  in  need  of  long  sleep, 
warm  bathing,  freedom  from  work,  and,  in  a  word,  of  as 
much  care  and  attendance  as  if  they  were  continually 
sick.     Tt  was  certainly  an    extraordinary  thing  to  have 


96  LYCURGUS. 

brought  about  such  a  result  as  this,  but  a  greater  yet  to 
have  taken  away  from  wealth,  as  Theophrastus  observes, 
not  merely  the  property  of  being  coveted,  but  its  very 
nature  of  being  wealth.  For  the  rich,  being  obliged  to 
go  to  the  same  table  with  the  poor,  could  not  make  use 
of  or  enjoy  their  abundance,  nor  so  much  as  please  their 
vanity  by  looking  at  or  displaying  it.  So  that  the  com- 
mon proverb,  that  Plutus,  the  god  of  riches,  is  blind,  was 
nowhere  in  all  the  world  literally  verified  but  in  Sparta. 
There,  indeed,  he  w^as  not  only  blind,  but  like  a  picture, 
without  either  life  or  motion.  Nor  were  they  allowed  to 
take  food  at  home  first,  and  then  attend  the  public  tables, 
for  every  one  had  an  eye  upon  those  who  did  not  eat  and 
drink  like  the  rest,  and  reproached  them  with  being 
dainty  and  effeminate. 

This  last  ordinance  in  particular  exasperated  the  wealth- 
ier men.  They  collected  in  a  body  against  Lycurgus,  and 
from  ill  words  came  to  throwing  stones,  so  that  at  length 
he  was  forced  to  run  out  of  the  market-place,  and  make 
to  sanctuary  to  save  his  life ;  by  good-hap  he  outran  all 
excepting  one  Alcander,  a  young  man  otherwise  not  ill 
accomplished,  but  hasty  and  violent,  who  came  up  so  close 
to  him,  that,  when  he  turned  to  see  who  was  near  him,  he 
struck  him  upon  the  face  with  his  stick,  and  put  out  one 
of  his  eyes.  Lycurgus.  so  far  from  being  daunted  and  dis- 
couraged by  this  accident,  stopped  short,  and  showed  his 
disfigured  face  and  eye  beat  out  to  his  countrymen  ;  they, 
dismayed  and  ashamed  at  the  sight,  delivered  Alcander 
into  his  hands  to  be  punished,  and  escorted  him  home, 
with  expressions  of  great  concern  for  his  ill  usage.  Lycur- 
gus, having  thanked  them  for  their  care  of  his  person, 
dismissed  them  all,  excepting  only  Alcander  ;  and,  taking 
him  with  him  into  his  house,  neither  did  nor  said  any 
thing  severely  to  him,  but,  dismissing  those  whose  place 
it  was,  bade  Alcander  to  wait  upon  him  at  table.     The 


LYCURGUS.  97 

young  man.  who  was  of  an  ingenuous  temper,  without 
murmuring  did  as  he  was  commanded  ;  and,  being  thus 
admitted  to  live  with  Lycurgus,  he  had  an  opportunity  to 
observe  in  him,  besides  his  gentleness  and  calmness  of 
temper,  an  extraordinary  sobriety  and  an  indefatigable 
industry,  and  so,  from  an  enemy,  became  one  of  his  most 
zealous  admirers,  and  told  his  friends  and  relations  that 
Lycurgus  was  not  that  morose  and  illnatured  man  they 
had  formerly  taken  him  for,  but  the  one  mild  and  gentle 
character  of  the  world.  And  thus  did  Lycurgus,  for  chas- 
tisement of  his  fault,  make  of  a  wild  and  passionate  young 
man  one  of  the  discreetest  citizens  of  Sparta. 

In  memory  of  this  accident,  Lycurgus  built  a  temple  to 
Minerva,  surnamed  Optiletis ;  optilns  being  the  Doric  of 
these  parts  for  ojohthalmiis,  the  eye.  Some  authors,  how- 
ever, of  whom  Dioscorides  is  one  (who  wrote  a  treatise  on 
the  commonwealth  of  Sparta),  say  that  he  was  wounded, 
indeed,  but  did  not  lose  his  eye  with  the  blow ;  and  that 
he  built  the  temple  in  gratitude  for  the  cure.  Be  this  as 
it  will,  certain  it  is,  that,  after  this  misadventure,  the  Lace- 
dasmonians  made  it  a  rule  never  to  carry  so  much  as  a 
staff  into  their  public  assemblies. 

But  to  return  to  their  public  repasts; — these  had  several 
names  in  Greek ;  the  Cretans  called  them  andria,  because 
the  men  only  came  to  them.  The  Lacedaemonians  called 
them  'phiditia,  that  is,  by  changing  I  into  d,  the  same  as 
philUia,  love  feasts,  beca.use  that,  by  eating  and  drinldng 
together,  they  had  opportunity  of  making  friends.  Or 
perhaps  from  phido,  parsimony,  because  they  were  so 
many  schools  of  sobriety ;  or  perhaps  the  first  letter  is 
an  addition,  and  the  word  at  first  was  editia,  from  edode, 
eating.  They  met  by  companies  of  fifteen,  more  or  less, 
and  each  of  them  stood  bound  to  bring  in  monthly  a 
bushel  of  meal,  eight  gallons  of  wine,  five  pounds  of 
cheese,  two  pounds  and  a  half  of  figs,  and  some  very  small 

VOL.  I.  7 


98  LYCURGUS. 

sum  of  money  to  buy  flesh  or  fish  with.  Besides  this, 
when  any  of  them  made  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  they  always 
sent  a  dole  to  the  common  hall ;  and,  likewise,  when  any 
of  them  had  been  a  hunting,  he  sent  thither  a  part  of  the 
venison  he  had  killed ;  for  these  two  occasions  were  the 
only  excuses  allowed  for  supping  at  home.  The  custom 
of  eating  together  was  observed  strictly  for  a  great  while 
afterwards  ;  insomuch  that  king  Agis  himself,  after  having 
vanquished  the  Athenians,  sending  for  his  commons  at  his 
return  home,  because  he  desired  to  eat  privately  with  his 
queen,  was  refused  them  by  the  polemarchs;  which 
refusal  when  he  resented  so  much  as  to  omit  next  day 
the  sacrifice  due  for  a  war  happily  ended,  they  made  him 
pay  a  fine. 

They  used  to  send  their  children  to  these  tables  as  to 
schools  of  temperance ;  here  they  were  instructed  in 
state  affairs  by  listening  to  experienced  statesmen ;  here 
they  learnt  to  converse  with  pleasantry,  to  make  jests 
without  scurrility,  and  take  them  without  ill  humor.  In 
this  point  of  good  breeding,  the  Lacedaemonians  excelled 
particularly,  but  if  any  man  were  uneasy  under  it,  upon 
the  least  hint  given  there  was  no  more  to  be  said  to  him. 
It  was  customary  also  for  the  eldest  man  in  the  company 
to  say  to  each  of  them,  as  they  came  in,  "  Through  this  " 
(pointing  to  the  door),  "  no  words  go  out."  When  any 
one  had  a  desire  to  be  admitted  into  any  of  these  little 
societies ;  he  was  to  go  through  the  following  probation, 
each  man  in  the  company  took  a  little  ball  of  soft  bread, 
which  they  were  to  throw  into  a  deep  basin,  which  a 
waiter  carried  round  upon  his  head ;  those  that  liked  the 
person  to  be  chosen  drojDped  their  ball  into  the  basin 
without  altering  its  figure,  and  those  who  disliked  him 
pressed  it  betwixt  their  fingers,  and  made  it  flat;  and 
this  signified  as  much  as  a  negative  voice.  And  if  there 
were  but  one  of  these  flattened  pieces  in  the  basin,  the 


LYCURGUS.  99 

suitor  was  rejected,  so  desirous  were  they  that  all  the 
members  of  the  company  should  be  agreeable  to  each 
other.  The  basin  was  called  caddichiis,  and  the  rejected 
candidate  had  a  name  thence  derived.  Their  most  f\xmous 
dish  was  the  black  broth,  which  was  so  much  valued  that 
the  elderly  men  fed  only  upon  that,  leaving  what  flesh 
there  was  to  the  younger. 

They  say  that  a  certain  king  of  Pontus,  having  heard 
much  of  this  black  broth  of  theirs,  sent  for  a  Lacedaemo- 
nian cook  on  purpose  to  make  him  some,  but  had  no 
sooner  tasted  it  than  he  found  it  extremely  bad,  which 
the  cook  observing,  told  him,  "  Sir,  to  make  this  broth 
relish,  you  should  have  bathed  yourself  first  in  the  river 
Eurotas." 

After  drinking  moderately,  every  man  went  to  his 
home  without  lights,  for  the  use  of  them  was,  on  all  occa- 
sions, forbid,  to  the  end  that  they  might  accustom  them- 
selves to  march  boldly  in  the  dark.  Such  was  the  com- 
mon fashion  of  their  meals. 

Lycurgus  would  never  reduce  his  laws  into  writing ; 
nay,  there  is  a  Rhetra  expressly  to  forbid  it.  For  he 
thought  that  the  most  material  points,  and  such  as  most 
directly  tended  to  the  public  welfare,  being  imprinted  on 
the  hearts  of  their  youth  by  a  good  discipline,  would  be 
sure  to  remain,  and  would  find  a  stronger  security,  than 
any  compulsion  would  be,  in  the  principles  of  action 
formed  in  them  by  their  best  lawgiver,  education.  And 
as  for  things  of  lesser  importance,  as  pecuniary  contracts, 
and  such  like,  the  forms  of  which  have  to  be  changed  as 
occasion  requires,  he  thought  it  the  best  way  to  prescribe 
no  positive  rule  or  inviolable  usage  in  such  cases,  willing 
that  their  manner  and  form  should  be  altered  according 
to  the  circumstances  of  time,  and  determinations  of  men 
of  sound  judgment.  Every  end  and  object  of  law  and 
enactment  it  was  his  design  education  should  efiect. 


100  LYCURGUS. 

One,  then,  of  the  Rhetras  was,  that  their  laws  should 
not  be  written ;  another  is  particularly  levelled  against 
luxury  and  expensiveness,  for  by  it  it  was  ordained  that 
the  ceilings  of  their  houses  should  only  be  wrought  by 
the  axe,  and  their  gates  and  doors  smoothed  onl}'^  by  the 
saw.  Epaminondas's  famous  dictum  about  his  own  table, 
that  "  Treason  and  a  dinner  like  this  do  not  keep  com- 
pany together,"  may  be  said  to  have  been  anticipated  by 
Lycurgus.  Luxury  and  a  house  of  this  kind  could  not 
well  be  companions.  For  a  man  must  have  a  less  than 
ordinary  share  of  sense  that  would  furnish  such  plain  and 
common  rooms  with  silver-footed  couches  and  purple 
coverlets  and  gold  and  silver  plate.  Doubtless  he  had 
good  reason  to  think  that  they  would  proportion  their 
beds  to  their  houses,  and  their  coverlets  to  their  beds,  and 
the  rest  of  their  goods  and  furniture  to  these.  It  is 
reported  that  king  Leotychides,  the  first  of  that  name, 
was  so  little  used  to  the  sight  of  any  other  kind  of 
work,  that,  being  entertained  at  Corinth  in  a  stately 
room,  he  was  much  surprised  to  see  the  timber  and  ceil- 
ing so  finely  carved  and  panelled,  and  asked  his  host 
whether  the  trees  grew  so  in  his  country. 

A  third  ordinance  or  Ehetra  was,  that  they  should  not 
make  war  often,  or  long,  with  the  same  enemy,  lest  that 
they  should  train  and  instruct  them  in  war,  by  habitua- 
ting them  to  defend  themselves.  And  this  is  what  Agesi- 
laus  was  much  blamed  for,  a  long  time  after ;  it  being 
thought,  that,  by  his  continual  incursions  into  Boeotia,  he 
made  the  Thebans  a  match  for  the  Lacedaemonians ;  and 
therefore  Antalcidas,  seeing  him  wounded  one  day,  said  to 
him,  that  he  was  very  well  paid  for  taking  such  pains  to 
make  the  Thebans  good  soldiers,  whether  they  would  or 
no.  These  laws  were  called  the  Rhetras,  to  intimate  that 
they  were  divine  sanctions  and  revelations. 

In  order  to  the  good  education  of  their  youth  (which, 


LYCURGUS.  101 

as  I  said  before,  he  thought  the  most  important  and 
noblest  work  of  a  lawgiver),  he  went  so  far  back  as  to 
take  into  consideration  their  very  conception  and  birth, 
by  regulating  their  marriages.  For  Aristotle  is  wrong  in 
saying,  that,  after  he  had  tried  all  ways  to  reduce  the 
women  to  more  modesty  and  sobriety,  he  was  at  last 
forced  to  leave  them  as  they  were,  because  that,  in  the 
absence  of  their  husbands,  who  spent  the  best  part  of 
their  lives  in  the  wars,  their  wives,  whom  they  were 
obhged  to  leave  absolute  mistresses  at  home,  took  great 
liberties  and  assumed  the  superiority ;  and  were  treated 
with  overmuch  respect  and  called  by  the  title  of  lady  or 
queen.  The  truth  is,  he  took  in  their  case,  also,  all  the 
care  that  was  possible ;  he  ordered  the  maidens  to  exer- 
cise themselves  with  wrestling,  running,  throwing  the 
quoit,  and  casting  the  dart,  to  the  end  that  the  fruit  they 
conceived  might,  in  strong  and  healthy  bodies,  take  firmer 
root  and  find  better  growth,  and  withal  that  they,  with 
this  greater  vigor,  might  be  the  more  able  to  undergo 
the  pains  of  child-bearing.  And  to  the  end  he  might 
take  away  their  over-great  tenderness  and  fear  of  ex- 
posure to  the  air,  and  all  acquired  womanishness,  he 
ordered  that  the  young  women  should  go  naked  in  the 
processions,  as  well  as  the  young  men,  and  dance,  too,  in 
that  condition,  at  certain  solemn  feasts,  singing  certain 
songs,  whilst  the  young  men  stood  around,  seeing  and 
hearing  them.  On  these  occasions,  they  now  and  then 
made,  by  jests,  a  befitting  reflection  upon  those  who  had 
misbehaved  themselves  in  the  wars ;  and  ao-ain  saner  enco 
miums  upon  those  who  had  done  any  gallant  action,  and 
by  these  means  inspired  the  younger  sort  with  an  emula- 
tion of  their  glory.  Those  that  were  thus  commended' 
went  away  proud,  elated,  and  gratified  with  their  honor 
among  the  maidens ;  and  those  who  were  rallied  were  as 
sensibly  touched  with  it   as  if  they  had  been  formally 


102  LTCURGUS. 

reprimanded ;  and  so  much  the  more,  because  the  kings 
and  the  elders,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  city,  saw  and 
heard  all  that  passed.  Nor  was  there  any  thing  shameful 
in  this  nakedness  of  the  young  women ;  modesty  attend- 
ed them,  and  all  wantonness  was  excluded.  It  taught 
them  simplicity  and  a  care  for  good  health,  and  gave 
them  some  taste  of  higher  feeling.s,  admitted  as  they  thus 
were  to  the  field  of  noble  action  and  glory.  Hence  it 
was  natural  for  them  to  think  and  speaic  as  Gorgo,  for 
example,  the  wife  of  Leonidas,  is  said  to  have  done,  when 
some  foreign  lady,  as  it  would  seem,  told  her  that  the 
women  of  Lacedaemon  were  the  only  women  of  the  world 
who  could  rule  men ;  "  With  good  reason,"  she  said,  "  for 
we  are  the  only  women  who  bring  forth  men." 

These  public  processions  of  the  maidens,  and  their 
appearing  naked  in  their  exercises  and  dancings,  were 
incitements  to  marriage,  operating  upon  the  young  with 
the  rigor  and  certainty,  as  Plato  says,  of  love,  if  not 
of  mathematics.  But  besides  all  this,  to  promote  it  yet 
more  effectually,  those  who  continued  bachelors  were  in 
a  degree  disfranchised  by  law ;  for  they  were  excluded 
from  the  sight  of  those  public  processions  in  which  the 
young  men  and  maidens  danced  naked,  and,  in  winter- 
time, the  officers  compelled  them  to  march  naked  them- 
selves round  the  market-place,  singing  as  they  went  a 
certain  song  to  their  own  disgrace,  that  they  justly 
suffered  this  punishment  for  disobeying  the  laws.  More- 
over, they  were  denied  that  respect  and  observance  which 
the  younger  men  paid  their  elders ;  and  no  man,  for 
example,  found  fault  with  what  was  said  to  Dercyllidas, 
though  so  eminent  a  commander;  upon  whose  approach 
one  day,  a  young  man,  instead  of  rising,  retained  his 
seat,  remarking,  "  No  child  of  yours  will  make  room 
for  me." 

In  their  marriages,  the  husband  carried  off  his  bride  by 


LYCURGUS.  103 

a  sort  of  force ;  nor  were  their  brides  ever  small  and  of 
tender  years,  but  in  their  full  bloom  and  ripen(iss.  After 
this,  she  who  superintended  the  wedding  comes  and  clips 
the  hair  of  the  bride  close  round  her  head,  dresses  her 
up  in  man's  clothes,  and  leaves  her  upon  a  mattress  in  the 
dark ;  afterwards  comes  the  bridegroom,  in  his  every-da;y 
clothes,  sober  and  composed,  as  having  supped  at  the 
common  table,  and,  entering  privately  into  the  room 
where  the  bride  Hes,  unties  her  virgin  zone,  and  takes  her 
to  himself;  and,  after  staying  some  time  together,  he 
returns  composedly  to  his  own  apartment,  to  sleep  as 
usual  with  the  other  young  men.  And  so  he  continues 
to  do,  spending  his  days,  and,  indeed,  his  nights  with  them, 
visiting  his  bride  in  fear  and  shame,  and  with  circumspec- 
tion, when  he  thought  he  should  not  be  observed ;  she, 
also,  on  her  part,  using  her  wit  to  help  and  find  favorable 
opportunities  for  their  meeting,  when  company  was  out 
of  the  way.  In  this  manner  they  lived  a  long  time,  inso- 
much that  they  sometimes  had  children  by  their  wives 
before  ever  they  saw  their  faces  by  daylight.  Their  inter- 
views, being  thus  difficult  and  rare,  served  not  only  for 
continual  exercise  of  their  self-control,  but  brought  them 
together  with  their  bodies  healthy  and  vigorous,  and  their 
affections  fresh  and  lively,  unsated  and  undulled  by  easy 
access  and  long  continuance  with  each  other ;  while  their 
partings  were  always  early  enough  to  leave  behind  unex- 
tinguished in  each  of  them  some  remainder  fire  of  longing 
and  mutual  delight.  After  guarding  marriage  with  this 
modesty  and  reserve,  he  was  equally  careful  to  banish 
empty  and  womanish  jealousy.  For  this  object,  exclu- 
ding all  licentious  disorders,  he  made  it,  nevertheless,  hon- 
orable for  men  to  give  the  use  of  their  wives  to  those 
whom  they  should  think  fit,  that  so  they  might  have 
children  by  them  ;  ridiculing  those  in  whose  opinion  such 
favors  are  so  unfit  for  participation  as  to  fight  and  shed 


104  LICURGUS. 

blood  and  go  to  war  about  it.     Lycurgus  allowed  a  man 
who  was  advanced   in  years  and  had  a   young  wife  to 
recommend  some  virtuous  and  approved  young  man,  that 
she  might  have  a  child  by  him,  who  might  inherit  the 
good  qualities  of  the  father,  and  be  a  son  to  himself     On 
the  other  side,  an  honest  man  who  had  love  for  a  mar- 
ried woman  upon  account  of  her  modesty  and  the  well- 
favoredness  of  her  children,  might,  without  formality,  beg 
her  company  of  her  husband,  that  he  might  raise,  as  it 
were,  from  this  plot  of  good  ground,  worthy  and  well- 
allied  children  for  himself    And,  indeed,  Lycurgus  was  of 
a  persuasion  that  children  were  not  so  much  the  property 
of  their  parents  as  of  the  whole  commonwealth,  and, 
therefore,  would  not  have  his  citizens  begot  by  the  first 
comers,  but  by  the  best  men  that  could  be  found ;  the 
laws  of  other  nations  seemed  to  him  very  absurd  and  in- 
consistent, where  people  would  be  so  solicitous  for  their 
dogs  and  horses  as  to  exert  interest  and  pay  money  to 
procure  fine  breeding,  and  yet  kept  their  wives  shut  up, 
to  be  made  mothers  only  by  themselves,  who  might  be 
foolish,  infirm,  or  diseased ;  as  if  it  were  not  apparent  that 
children  of  a  bad  breed  would  prove  their  bad  qualities 
first  upon  those  who  kept  and  were  rearing  them,  and 
well-born  children,  in  like  manner,  their  good  qualities. 
These  regulations,  founded  on  natural  and  social  grounds, 
were  certainly  so  far  from  that  scandalous  liberty  which 
was   afterwards    charged    upon    their  women,  that  they 
knew  not  what  adultery  meant.     It  is  told,  for  instance, 
of  Geradas,  a  very  ancient  Spartan,  that,  being  asked  by 
a  stranger  what  punishment  their  law  had  appointed  for 
adulterers,  he  answered,  "  There  are  no  adulterers  in  our 
country."     "  But,"  replied   the  stranger,  "  suppose  there 
were  ?  "  "  Then,"  answered  he, "  the  offender  would  have  to 
give  the  plaintifi"  a  bull  with  a  neck  so  long  as  that  he 
might  drink  from  the  top  of  Taygetus  of  the  Eurotas  river 


LYCURGUS.  105 

below  it."  The  man,  surprised  at  this,  said,  "  Why,  't  is 
impossible  to  find  such  a  bull."  Geradas  smilingly  re- 
plied, "  'T  is  as  possible  as  to  find  an  adulterer  in  Sparta." 
So  much  I  had  to  say  of  their  marriages. 

Nor  was  it  in  the  power  of  the  father  to  dispose  of  the 
child  as  he  thought  fit ;  he  was  obliged  to  carry  it  before 
certain  triers  at  a  place  called  Lesche  ;  these  were  some 
of  the  elders  of  the  tribe  to  which  the  child  belonged ; 
their  business  it  was  carefully  to  view  the  infant,  and,  if 
they  found  it  stout  and  well  made,  they  gave  order  for 
its  rearing,  and  allotted  to  it  one  of  the  nine  thousand 
shares  of  land  above  mentioned  for  its  maintenance,  but, 
if  they  found  it  puny  and  ill-shaped,  ordered  it  to  be 
taken  to  what  was  called  the  Apothetse,  a  sort  of  chasm 
under  Taygetus ;  as  thinking  it  neither  for  the  good  of 
the  child  itself,  nor  for  the  public  interest,  that  it  should 
be  brought  up,  if  it  did  not,  from  the  very  outset,  appear 
made  to  be  healthy  and  vigorous.  Upon  the  same  ac- 
count, the  women  did  not  bathe  the  new-born  children 
with  water,  as  is  the  custom  in  all  other  countries,  but 
with  wine,  to  prove  the  temper  and  complexion  of  their 
bodies ;  from  a  notion  they  had  that  epileptic  and  weakly 
children  faint  and  waste  away  upon  their  being  thus 
bathed,  while,  on  the  contrary,  those  of  a  strong  and 
vigorous  habit  acquire  firmness  and  get  a  temper  by  it, 
like  steel.  There  was  much  care  and  art,  too,  used  by 
the  nurses ;  they  had  no  swaddling  bands ;  the  children 
grew  up  free  and  unconstrained  in  limb  and  form,  and 
not  dainty  and  fanciful  about  their  food ;  not  afraid  in  the 
dark,  or  of  being  left  alone ;  without  any  peevishness  or 
ill  humor  or  crying.  Upon  this  account,  Spartan  nurses 
were  often  bought  up,  or  hired  by  people  of  other  coun- 
tries; and  it  is  recorded  that  she  who  suckled  Alcibiades 
was  a  Spartan ;  who,  however,  if  fortunate  in  his  nurse, 
was  not  so  in  his  preceptor;    his  guardian,  Pericles,  as 


106  LYCURGUS. 

Plato  tells  us,  chose  a  servant  for  that  office  called  Zopy- 
rus,  no  better  than  any  common  slave. 

Lycurgus  was  of  another  mind;  he  would  not  have 
masters  bought  out  of  the  market  for  his  young  Spartans. 
nor  such  as  should  sell  their  pains ;  nor  was  it  lawful, 
indeed,  for  the  father  himself  to  breed  up  the  children 
after  his  own  fancy;  but  as  soon  as  they  were  seven  years 
old  they  were  to  be  enrolled  in  certain  companies  and 
classes,  where  they  all  lived  under  the  same  order  and 
discipline,  doing  their  exercises  and  taking  their  play  to- 
gether. Of  these,  he  who  showed  the  most  conduct  and 
courage  was  made  captain ;  they  had  their  eyes  always 
upon  him,  obeyed  his  orders,  and  underwent  patiently 
whatsoever  punishment  he  inflicted ;  so  that  the  whole 
course  of  their  education  was  one  continued  exercise  of  a 
ready  and  perfect  obedience.  The  old  men,  too,  were  spec- 
tators of  their  performances,  and  often  raised  quarrels  and 
disputes  among  them,  to  have  a  good  opportunity  of  find- 
ing out  their  different  characters,  and  of  seeing  which 
would  be  valiant,  which  a  coward,  when  they  should  come 
to  more  dangerous  encounters.  Reading  and  writing  they 
gave  them,  just  enough  to  serve  their  turn ;  their  chief 
care  was  to  make  them  good  subjects,  and  to  teach  them 
to  endure  pain  and  conquer  in  battle.  To  this  end,  as 
they  grew  in  years,  their  discipline  was  proportionably  in- 
creased ;  their  heads  were  close-clipped,  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  go  bare-foot,  and  for  the  most  part  to  play  naked. 

After  they  were  twelve  years  old,  they  were  no  longer 
allowed  to  wear  any  under-garment ;  they  had  one  coat 
to  serve  them  a  year ;  •''  their  bodies  were  hard  and  dry, 
with  but  little  acquaintance  of  baths  and  unguents ;  these 
himian  indulgences  they  were  allowed  only  on  some  few 

*  The  chiton  and  the  himation,     spending  in  use  to  the  Roman  tunic 
one  inside  and  one  out,  constituted     and  toga, 
tlie  ordinary  Greek  dress;   corre- 


LYCURGUS.  107 

particular  days  in  the  year.  They  lodged  together  in 
little  bands  upon  beds  made  of  the  rushes  which  grew 
by  the  banks  of  the  river  Eurotas.  which  they  were  to 
break  off  with  their  hands  without  a  knife ;  if  it  were 
winter,  they  mingled  some  thistle-down  with  their  rushes, 
which  it  was  thought  had  the  property  of  giving  warmth. 
By  the  time  they  were  come  to  this  age,  there  was  not 
any  of  the  more  hopeful  boys  who  had  not  a  lover  to 
bear  him  company.  The  old  men,  too,  had  an  eye  upon 
them,  coming  often  to  the  grounds  to  hear  and  see  them 
contend  either  in  wit  or  strength  with  one  another,  and 
this  as  seriously  and  with  as  much  concern  as  if  they 
were  their  fathers,  their  tutors,  or  their  magistrates ;  so 
that  there  scarcely  was  any  time  or  place  without  some 
one  present  to  put  them  in  mind  of  their  duty,  and  punish 
them  if  they  had  neglected  it. 

Besides  all  this,  there  was  always  one  of  the  best  and 
honestest  men  in  the  city  appointed  to  undertake  the 
charge  and  governance  of  them ;  he  again  arranged  them 
into  their  several  bands,  and  set  over  each  of  them  for 
their  captain  the  most  temperate  and  boldest  of  those 
they  called  Irens,  who  were  usually  twenty  years  old, 
two  years  out  of  the  boys ;  and  the  eldest  of  the  boys, 
again,  were  Mell-Irens,  as  much  as  to  say,  who  would 
shortly  be  men.  This  young  man,  therefore,  was  their 
captain  when  they  fought,  and  their  master  at  home, 
using  them  for  the  offices  of  his  house ;  sending  the  oldest 
of  them  to  fetch  wood,  and  the  weaker  and  less  able,  to 
gather  salads  and  herbs,  and  these  they  must  either  go 
without  or  steal;  which  they  did  by  creeping  into  the 
gardens,  or  conveying  themselves  cunningly  and  closely 
into  the  eating-houses ;  if  they  were  taken  in  the  fact, 
they  were  whipped  without  mercy,  for  thieving  so  ill  and 
awkwardly.  They  stole,  too,  all  other  meat  they  coidd 
lay  their  hands  on,  looking  out  and  watching  all  oppor- 


108  LYCURGUS. 

tunities,  when  people  were  asleep  or  more  careless  than 
usual.  If  they  were  caught,  they  were  not  only  punished 
with  whipping,  but  hunger,  too,  being  reduced  to  their  ordi- 
nary allowance,  which  was  but  very  slender,  and  so  con- 
trived on  purpose,  that  they  might  set  about  to  help  them- 
selves, and  be  forced  to  exercise  their  energy  and  address. 
This  was  the  principal  design  of  their  hard  fare ;  there 
was  another  not  inconsiderable,  that  they  might  grow 
taller ;  for  the  vital  spirits,  not  being  overburdened  and 
oppressed  by  too  great  a  quantity  of  nourishment,  which 
necessarily  discharges  itself  into  thickness  and  breadth,  do, 
by  their  natural  lightness,  rise ;  and  the  body,  giving  and 
yielding  because  it  is  pliant,  grows  in  height.  The  same 
thing  seems,  also,  to  conduce  to  beauty  of  shape ;  a  dry 
and  lean  habit  is  a  better  subject  for  nature's  configuration, 
which  the  gross  and  over-fed  are  too  heavy  to  submit  to 
properly.  Just  as  we  find  that  women  who  take  physic 
whilst  they  are  with  child,  bear  leaner  and  smaller  but 
better-shaped  and  prettier  children;  the  material  they 
come  of  having  been  more  pliable  and  easily  moulded. 
The  reason,  however,  I  leave  others  to  determine. 

To  return  from  whence  we  have  digressed.  So  seri- 
ously did  the  Lacedgemonian  children  go  about  their 
stealing,  that  a  youth,  having  stolen  a  young  fox  and  hid 
it  under  his  coat,  suffered  it  to  tear  out  his  very  bowels 
with  its  teeth  and  claws,  and  died  upon  the  place,  rather 
than  let  it  be  seen.  What  is  practised  to  this  very  day 
in  Lacedaemon  is  enough  to  gain  credit  to  this  story,  for  I 
myself  have  seen  several  of  the  youths  endure  whipping 
to  death  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  Diana  surnamed  Or- 
thia. 

The  Iren,  or  under-master,  used  to  stay  a  little  with 
them  after  supper,  and  one  of  them  he  bade  to  sing  a 
song,  to  another  he  put  a  question  which  required  an 
advised  and  deliberate  answer ;    for  example,  Who  was 


LYCURGUS.  109 

the  best  man  in  the  city  ?  What  he  thought  of  such  an 
action  of  such  a  man  ?  They  used  them  thus  early  to  pass 
a  right  judgment  upon  persons  and  things,  and  to  inform 
themselves  of  the  abilities  or  defects  of  their  countrymen. 
If  they  had  not  an  answer  ready  to  the  question  Who  was 
a  good  or  who  an  ill-reputed  citizen,  they  were  looked 
upon  as  of  a  dull  and  careless  disposition,  and  to  have 
little  or  no  sense  of  virtue  and  honor ;  besides  this,  they 
were  to  give  a  good  reason  for  what  they  said,  and  in  as 
few  words  and  as  comprehensive  as  might  be;  he  that 
failed  of  this,  or  answered  not  to  the  purpose,  had  his 
thumb  bit  by  his  master.  Sometimes  the  Iren  did  this 
in  the  presence  of  the  old  men  and  magistrates,  that 
they  might  see  whether  he  punished  them  justly  and  in 
due  measure  or  not ;  and  when  he  did  amiss,  they  would 
not  reprove  him  before  the  boys,  but,  when  they  were 
gone,  he  was  called  to  an  account  and  underwent  correc- 
tion, if  he  had  run  far  into  either  of  the  extremes  of 
indulgence  or  severity. 

Their  lovers  and  favorers,  too,  had  a  share  in  the  young 
boy's  honor  or  disgrace ;  and  there  goes  a  story  that  one 
of  them  was  fined  by  the  magistrates,  because  the  lad 
whom  he  loved  cried  out  effeminately  as  he  was  fighting. 
And  though  this  sort  of  love  was  so  approved  among 
them,  that  the  most  virtuous  matrons  would  make  profes- 
sions of  it  to  young  girls,  yet  rivalry  did  not  exist,  and 
if  several  men's  fancies  met  in  one  person,  it  was  rather 
the  beginning  of  an  intimate  friendship,  whilst  they  all 
jointly  conspired  to  render  the  object  of  their  affection  as 
accomplished  as  possible. 

They  taught  them,  also,  to  speak  with  a  natural  and 
graceful  raillery,  and  to  comprehend  much  matter  of 
thought  in  few  words.  For  Lycurgus,  who  ordered,  as 
we  saw,  that  a  great  piece  of  money  should  be  but  of  an 
inconsiderable   value,  on   the  contrary  would   allow   no 


110  LYCURGUS. 

discourse  to  be  current  which  did  not  contain  in  few 
words  a  great  deal  of  useful  and  curious  sense ;  children 
in  Sparta,  by  a  habit  of  long  silence,  came  to  give  just 
and  sententious  answers ;  for,  indeed,  as  loose  and  incon- 
tinent livers  are  seldom  fathers  of  many  children,  so 
loose  and  incontinent  talkers  seldom  originate  many  sen- 
sible words.  King  Agis,  when  some  Athenian  laughed  at 
their  short  swords,  and  said  that  the  jugglers  on  the  stage 
swallowed  them  with  ease,  answered  him,  "  We  find  them 
long  enough  to  reach  our  enemies  with ; "  and  as  their 
swords  were  short  and  sharp,  so,  it  seems  to  me,  were 
their  sayings.  They  reach  the  point  and  arrest  the  atten- 
tion of  the  hearers  better  than  any.  Lycurgus  himself 
seems  to  have  been  short  and  sententious,  if  we  may 
trust  the  anecdotes  of  him ;  as  appears  by  his  answer  to 
one  who  by  all  means  would  set  up  democracy  in  Lace- 
daemon.  "Begin,  friend,"  said  he,  "and  set  it  up  in  your 
family."  Another  asked  him  why  he  allowed  of  such 
mean  and  trivial  sacrifices  to  the  gods.  He  replied, "  That 
we  may  always  have  something  to  offer  to  them."  Being 
asked  Avhat  sort  of  martial  exercises  or  combats  he  ap- 
proved of,  he  answered, "  All  sorts,  except  that  in  which  you 
stretch  out  your  hands."  *  Similar  answers,  addressed  to 
his  countrymen  by  letter,  are  ascribed  to  him ;  as,  being 
consulted  how  they  might  best  oppose  an  invasion  of 
their  enemies,  he  returned  this  answer,  "  By  continuing 
poor,  and  not  coveting  each  man  to  be  greater  than  his 
fellow."  Being  consulted  again  whether  it  were  requi- 
site to  enclose  the  city  with  a  wall,  he  sent  them  word, 
"  The  city  is  well  fortified  which  hath  a  wall  of  men  in- 
stead of  brick."  But  whether  these  letters  are  counterfeit 
or  not  is  not  easy  to  determine. 

Of  their   dislike  to   talkativeness,  the  following   apo- 

*  1'he  Ibrm  of  crying  quarter  amoug  the  ancients. 


LYCURGUS.  Ill 

phthegms  are  evidence.  King  Leonidas  said  to  one  who 
held  him  in  discourse  upon  some  useful  matter,  but  not 
in  due  time  and  place,  "  Much  to  the  purpose.  Sir,  else- 
where." King  Charilaus,  the  nephew  of  Lycurgus,  being 
asked  why  his  uncle  had  made  so  few  laws,  answered, 
"  Men  of  few  words  require  but  few  laws."  When  one 
blamed  Hecataaus  the  sophist  because  that,  being  invited 
to  the  public  table,  he  had  not  spoken  one  word  all  sup- 
per-time, Archidamidas  answered  in  his  vindication,  "  He 
who  knows  how  to  speak,  knows  also  when." 

The  sharp  and  yet  not  ungraceful  retorts  which  I  men- 
tioned ma}^  be  instanced  as  follows.  Demaratus,  being 
asked  in  a  troublesome  manner  by  an  importunate  fellow, 
Who  was  the  best  man  in  Lacedoemon  ?  answered  at  last, 
"  He,  Sir,  that  is  the  least  like  you."  Some,  in  company 
where  Agis  was,  much  extolled  the  Eleans  for  their  just 
and  honorable  management  of  the  Olympic  games ;  "  In- 
deed," said  Agis,  "  they  are  highly  to  be  commended  if 
they  can  do  justice  one  day  in  five  years."  Theopompus 
answered  a  stranger  who  talked  much  of  his  affection  to 
the  Lacedaemonians,  and  said  that  his  countrymen  called 
him  Philolacon  (a  lover  of  the  Lacedaemonians),  that  it 
had  been  more  for  his  honor  if  they  had  called  him  Phi- 
lopolites  (a  lover  of  his  own  countrymen).  And  Plistoa- 
nax,  the  son  of  Pausanias,  when  an  orator  of  Athens  said 
the  Lacedaemonians  had  no  learning,  told  him,  "  You  say 
true,  Sir  ;  we  alone  of  all  the  Greeks  have  learned  none 
of  your  bad  qualities."  One  asked  Archidamidas  what 
number  there  might  be  of  the  Spartans ;  he  answered, 
"  Enough,  Sir,  to  keep  out  wicked  men." 

We  may  see  their  character,  too,  in  their  very  jests. 
For  they  did  not  throw  them  out  at  random,  but  the  very 
wit  of  them  was  grounded  upon  something  or  other 
worth  thinking  about.     For  instance,  one,  being  asked  to 


112  LYCURGUS. 

go  hear  a  man  who  exactly  counterfeited  the  voice  of  a 
nightingale,  answered,  "  Sir,  I  have  heard  the  nightingale 
itself."  Another,  having  read  the  following  inscription 
upon  a  tomb. 

Seeking  to  quench  a  cruel  tyranny, 
They,  at  SeUnus,  did  in  battle  die, 

said,  it  served  them  right ;  for  instead  of  trying  to  quench 
the  tyranny  they  should  have  let  it  bum  out.  A  lad, 
being  offered  some  game-cocks  that  would  die  upon  the 
spot,  said  that  he  cared  not  for  cocks  that  would  die, 
but  for  such  that  would  live  and  kill  others.  Another, 
seeing  people  easing  themselves  on  seats,  said,  "  God  for- 
bid I  should  sit  where  I  could  not  get  up  to  salute  my 
elders."  In  short,  their  answers  were  so  sententious  and 
pertinent,  that  one  said  well  that  intellectual  much  more 
truly  than  athletic  exercise  was  the  Spartan  characteristic. 
Nor  was  their  instruction  in  music  and  verse  less  care- 
fully attended  to  than  their  habits  of  grace  and  good 
breeding  in  conversation.  And  their  very  songs  had  a 
life  and  spirit  in  them  that  inflamed  and  possessed  men's 
minds  with  an  enthusiasm  and  ardor  for  action  ;  the  style 
of  them  was  plain  and  without  affectation ;  the  subject 
always  serious  and  moral ;  most  usually,  it  was  in  praise 
of  such  men  as  had  died  in  defence  of  their  country,  or 
m  derision  of  those  that  had  been  cowards ;  the  former 
they  declared  happy  and  glorified ;  the  life  of  the  latter 
they  described  as  most  miserable  and  abject.  There  were 
also  vaunts  of  what  they  would  do,  and  boasts  of  what 
they  had  done,  varying  with  the  various  ages,  as,  for 
example,  they  had  three  choirs  in  their  solemn  festivals, 
the  first  of  the  old  men,  the  second  of  the  young  men. 
and  the  last  of  the  children  ;  the  old  men  began  thus : 

We  once  were  young,  and  brave  and  strong ; 


LYCURGUS.  113 

the  young  men  answered  them,  singing, 

And  we're  so  now,  come  on  and  try  ; 

the  children  came  last  and  said, 

But  we'll  be  strongest  by  and  by. 

Indeed,  if  we  will  take  the  pains  to  consider  their  com- 
positions, some  of  which  were  still  extant  in  our  days, 
and  the  airs  on  the  flute  to  which  they  marched  when 
going  to  battle,  we  shall  find  that  Terpander  and  Pindar 
had  reason  to  say  that  music  and  valor  were  allied.  The 
first  says  of  Lacedaemon  — 

The  spear  and  song  in  her  do  meet, 
And  Justice  walks  about  her  street ; 

and  Pindar  — 

Councils  of  wise  elders  here. 

And  the  young  men's  conquering  spear. 

And  dance,  and  song,  and  joy  appear ; 

both  describing  the  Spartans  as  no  less  musical  than  war- 
like ;  in  the  words  of  one  of  their  own  poets  — 

With  the  iron  stern  and  sharp 
Comes  the  playing  on  the  harp. 

For,  indeed,  before  they  engaged  in  battle,  the  king  first 
did  sacrifice  to  the  Muses,  in  all  likelihood  to  put  them  in 
mind  of  the  manner  of  their  education,  and  of  the  judg- 
ment that  would  be  passed  upon  their  actions,  and  there- 
by to  animate  them  to  the  performance  of  exploits  that 
should  deserve  a  record.  At  such  times,  too,  the  Lace- 
daemonians abated  a  little  the  severity  of  their  manners 
in  favor  of  their  young  men,  suffering  them  to  curl  and 
adorn  their  hair,  and  to  have  costly  arms,  and  fine  clothes ; 

VOL.  I.  8 


114  LYCURGUS. 

and  were  well  pleased  to  see  them,  like  proud  horses, 
neighing  and  pressing  to  the  course.  And  therefore,  as 
soon  as  they  came  to  be  well-grown,  they  took  a  great 
deal  of  care  of  their  hair,  to  have  it  parted  and  trimmed, 
especially  against  a  day  of  battle,  pursuant  to  a  saying 
recorded  of  their  lawgiver,  that  a  large  head  of  hair  added 
beauty  to  a  good  face,  and  terror  to  an  ugly  one. 

When  they  were  in  the  field,  their  exercises  were  gen- 
erally more  moderate,  their  fare  not  so  hard,  nor  so  strict 
a  hand  held  over  them  by  their  officers,  so  that  they 
were  the  only  people  in  the  world  to  whom  war  gave 
repose.  When  their  army  was  drawn  up  in  battle  array 
and  the  enemy  near,  the  king  sacrificed  a  goat,  com- 
manded the  soldiers  to  set  their  garlands  upon  their 
heads,  and  the  pipers  to  play  the  tune  of  the  hymn  to 
Castor,  and  himself  began  the  paean  of  advance.  It  was 
at  once  a  magnificent  and  a  terrible  sight  to  see  them 
march  on  to  the  tune  of  their  flutes,  without  any  dis- 
order in  their  ranks,  any  discomposure  in  their  minds  or 
change  in  their  countenance,  calmly  and  cheerfully  mov- 
ing with  the  music  to  the  deadly  fight.  Men,  in  this  tem- 
per, were  not  likely  to  be  possessed  with  fear  or  any 
transport  of  fury,  but  with  the  deliberate  valor  of  hope 
and  assurance,  as  if  some  divinity  were  attending  and 
conducting  them.  The  king  had  always  about  his  per- 
son some  one  who  had  been  crowned  in  the  Olympic 
games ;  and  upon  this  account  a  Lacedasmonian  is  said  to 
have  refused  a  considerable  present,  which  was  offered  to 
him  upon  condition  that  he  would  not  come  into  the 
lists ;  and  when  he  had  with  much  to-do  thrown  his  anta- 
gonist, some  of  the  spectators  saying  to  him,  "  And  now, 
Sir  Lacedaemonian,  what  are  you  the  better  for  your  vic- 
tory ?  "  he  answered  smiling, "  I  shall  fight  next  the  king." 
After  they  had  routed  an  enemy,  they  pursued  him  till 
they  were  well   assured  of  the   victory,  and  then  they 


LYCURGUS.  116 

sounded  a  retreat,  thinking  it  base  and  unworthy  of  a 
Grecian  people  to  cut  men  in  pieces,  who  had  given  up 
and  abandoned  all  resistance.  This  manner  of  dealing 
with  their  enemies  did  not  only  show  magnanimity,  but 
was  politic  too  ;  for,  knowing  that  they  killed  only  those 
who  made  resistance,  and  gave  quarter  to  the  rest,  men 
generally  thought  it  their  best  way  to  consult  their  safety 
by  flight. 

Hippias  the  sophist  says  that  Lycurgus  himself  was  a 
great  soldier  and  an  experienced  commander.  Philoste- 
phanus  attributes  to  him  the  first  division  of  the  cavalry 
into  troops  of  fifties  in  a  square  body  ;  but  Demetrius  tlie 
Phalerian  says  quite  the  contrary,  and  that  he  made  all 
his  laws  in  a  continued  peace.  And,  indeed,  the  Olympic 
holy  truce,  or  cessation  of  arms,  that  was  procured  by  his 
means  and  management,  inclines  me  to  think  him  a  kind- 
natured  man,  and  one  that  loved  quietness  and  peace. 
Notwithstanding  all  this,  Hermippus  tells  us  that  he  had 
no  hand  in  the  ordinance ;  that  Iphitus  made  it,  and  Ly- 
curgus came  only  as  a  spectator,  and  that  by  mere  acci- 
dent too.  Being  there,  he  heard  as  it  were  a  man's  voice 
behind  him,  blaming  and  wondering  at  him  that  he  did 
not  encourage  his  countrymen  to  resort  to  the  assembly, 
and,  turning  about  and  seeing  no  man,  concluded  that  it 
was  a  voice  from  heaven,  and  upon  this  immediately  went 
to  Iphitus,  and  assisted  him  in  ordering  the  ceremonies  of 
that  feast,  which,  by  his  means,  were  better  established, 
and  with  more  repute  than  before. 

To  return  to  the  Lacedaemonians.  Their  discipline 
continued  still  after  they  Avere  full-grown  men.  No  one 
was  allowed  to  live  after  his  own  fancy  ;  but  the  city  was 
a  sort  of  camp,  in  which  every  man  had  his  share  of  pro- 
visions and  business  set  out,  and  looked  upon  himself 
not  so  much  born  to  serve  his  own  ends  as  the  interest  of 
his  country.     Therefore,  if  they  Vv^eve  commanded  noth- 


116  LYCURGUS. 

ing  else,  they  went  to  see  the  boys  perfonn  their  exer- 
cises, to  teach  them  something  useful,  or  to  learn  it  them- 
selves of  those  who  knew  better.     And,  indeed,  one  of  the 
greatest  and  highest  blessings  Lycurgus  procured  his  peo- 
ple was  the  abundance  of  leisure,  which  proceeded  from 
his  forbidding  to  them  the  exercise  of  any  mean  and  me- 
chanical trade.     Of  the  money-making  that  depends  on 
troublesome  going  about  and  seeing  people  and  doing 
business,  they  had  no  need  at  all  in  a  state  where  wealth 
obtained  no  honor  or  respect.     The  Helots   tilled  their 
ground  for  them,  and  paid  them  yearly  in  kind  the  ap- 
pointed quantity,  without  any  trouble  of  theirs.     To  this 
purpose  there  goes  a  story  of  a  Lacedaemonian  who,  hap- 
pening to  be  at  Athens  when  the  courts  were  sitting,  was 
told  of  a  citizen  that  had  been  fined  for  living  an  idle 
life,  and  was  being  escorted   home  in  much  distress  of 
mind  by  his  condoling  friends ;  the  LacedaBmonian  was 
much  surprised  at  it,  and  desired  his  friend  to  show  him 
the  man  who  was  condemned  for  living  like  a  freeman. 
So  much  beneath  them  did   they  esteem   the   frivolous 
devotion  of  time  and  attention  to  the  mechanical  arts 
and  to  money-making. 

It  need  not  be  said,  that,  upon  the  prohibition  of  gold 
and  silver,  all  lawsuits  immediately  ceased,  for  there  was 
now  neither  avarice  nor  poverty  amongst  them,  but 
equality,  where  every  one's  wants  were  supplied,  and 
independence,  because  those  wants  were  so  small.  All 
their  time,  except  when  they  were  in  the  field,  was  taken 
up  by  the  choral  dances  and  the  festivals,  in  hunting, 
and  in  attendance  on  the  exercise-grounds  and  the  places 
of  public  conversation.^-^  Those  who  were  under  thirty 
years  of  age  were  not  allowed  to  go  into  the  market- 
place, but  had  the  necessaries  of  their  family  supplied  by 

*  Leschae. 


LYCURGUS.  117 

the  care  of  their  relations  and  lovers ;  nor  was  it  for  the 
credit  of  elderly  men  to  be  seen  too  often  in  the  marketr 
place;  it  was  esteemed  more  suitable  for  them  to  fre- 
quent the  exercise-grounds  and  places  of  conversation, 
where  they  spent  their  leisure  rationally  in  conversation, 
not  on  money-making  and  market-prices,  but  for  the 
most  part  in  passing  judgment  on  some  action  worth 
considering ;  extolling  the  good,  and  censuring  those  who 
were  otherwise,  and  that  in  a  light  and  sportive  manner, 
conveying,  without  too  much  gravity,  lessons  of  advice 
and  improvement.  Nor  was  Lycurgus  himself  unduly 
austere ;  it  was  he  who  dedicated,  says  Sosibius,  the  little 
statue  of  Laughter.  Mirth,  introduced  seasonably  at  their 
suppers  and  places  of  common  entertainment,  was  to  serve 
as  a  sort  of  sweetmeat  to  accompany  their  strict  and  hard 
life.  To  conclude,  he  bred  up  his  citizens  in  such  a  way 
that  they  neither  would  nor  could  live  by  themselves ; 
they  were  to  make  themselves  one  with  the  public  good, 
and,  clustering  like  bees  around  their  commander,  be  by 
their  zeal  and  public  spirit  carried  all  but  out  of  them- 
selves, and  devoted  wholly  to  their  country.  What  their 
sentiments  were  will  better  appear  by  a  few  of  their  say- 
ings. Paedaretus,  not  being  admitted  into  the  list  of  the 
three  hundred,  returned  home  with  a  joyful  face,  well 
pleased  to  find  that  there  were  in  Sparta  three  hundred 
better  men  than  himself  And  Polycratidas,  being  sent 
with  some  others  ambassador  to  the  lieutenants  of  the  king 
of  Persia,  being  asked  by  them  whether  they  came  in  a 
private  or  in  a  public  character,  answered,  "  In  a  public,  if 
we  succeed ;  if  not,  in  a  private  character."  Argileonis, 
asking  some  who  came  from  Amphipolis  if  her  son  Brasi- 
das  died  courageously  and  as  became  a  Spartan,  on  their 
beginning  to  praise  him  to  a  high  degree,  and  saying  there 
was  not  such  another  left  in  Sparta,  answered,  "  Do  not 


118  LYCURGUS. 

sny  so ;  Brasidas  was  a  good  and  brave  man,  but  there 
are  in  Sparta  many  better  than  he." 

The  senate,  as  I  said  before,  consisted  of  those  who 
were  Lycurgus's  chief  aiders  and  assistants  in  his  plans. 
The  vacancies  he  ordered  to  be  suppUed  out  of  the  best 
and  most  deserving  men  past  sixty  years  old  5  and  we  need 
not  wonder  if  there  was  much  striving  for  it ;  for  what 
more  glorious  competition  could  there  be  amongst  men, 
than  one  in  which  it  was  not  contested  who  was  swiftest 
among  the  swift  or  strongest  of  the  strong,  but  who  of 
many  wise  and  good  was  wisest  and  best,  and  fittest  to  be 
intrusted  for  ever  after,  as  the  reward  of  his  merits,  with 
the  supreme  authority  of  the  commonwealth,  and  with 
power  over  the  lives,  franchises,  and  highest  interests  of 
all  his  countrymen?    The  manner  of  their  election  was  as 
follows :  the  people  being  called  together,  some  selected 
persons  were  locked  up  in  a  room  near  the  place  of  elec- 
tion, so  contrived  that  they  could  neither  see  nor  be  seen, 
but  could  only  hear  the  noise  of  the  assembly  without ; 
for  they  decided  this,  as  most  other  affairs  of  moment,  by 
the  shouts  of  the  people.     This  done,  the    competitors 
were  not  brought  in  and  presented  all  together,  but  one 
after  another  by  lot,  and  passed  in  order  through  the 
assembly  without   speaking   a  word.     Those   who  were 
locked  up  had  writing-tables  with  them,  in  which  they 
recorded  and  marked  each  shout  by  its  loudness,  without 
knowino;  in  favor  of  which  candidate  each  of  them  was 
made,  but  merely  that  they  came  first,  second,  third,  and 
so  forth.     He  who  was  found  to  have  the  most  and  loudest 
acclamations  was  declared  senator  duly  elected.     Upon 
this  he  had  a  garland  set  upon  his  head,  and  went  in  pro- 
cession to  all  the  temples  to  give  thanks  to  the  gods ;  a 
great  number  of  young  men  followed  him  with  applauses, 
and  women,  also,  singing  verses  in  his  honor,  and  extolling 
the  virtue  and  happiness  of  his  life.     As  he  went  round 


LYCURGUS.  119 

the  city  in  this  manner,  each  of  his  relations  and  friends 
set  a  table  before  him,  saying, "  The  city  honors  you  with 
this  banquet;"  but  he,  instead  of  accepting,  passed  round 
to  the  common  table  where  he  formerly  used  to  eat,  and 
was  served  as  before,  excepting  that  now  he  had  a  second 
allowance,  which  he  took  and  put  by.  By  the  time  sup- 
per was  ended,  the  women  who  were  of  kin  to  him  had 
come  about  the  door ;  and  he,  beckoning  to  her  whom  he 
most  esteemed,  presented  to  her  the  portion  he  had  saved, 
saying,  that  it  had  been  a  mark  of  esteem  to  him,  and 
was  so  now  to  her ;  upon  which  she  was  triumphantly 
waited  upon  home  by  the  women. 

Touching  burials,  Lycurgus  made  very  wise  regulations ; 
for,  first  of  all,  to  cut  off  all  superstition,  he  allowed  them 
to  bury  their  dead  within  the  city,  and  even  round  about 
their  temples,  to  the  end  that  their  youth  might  be  accus- 
tomed to  such  spectacles,  and  not  be  afraid  to  see  a  dead 
body,  or  imagine  that  to  touch  a  corpse  or  to  tread  upon 
a  grave  would  defile  a  man.  In  the  next  place,  he  com- 
manded them  to  put  nothing  into  the  ground  with  them, 
except,  if  they  pleased,  a  few  olive  leaves,  and  the  scarlet 
cloth  that  they  were  wrapped  in.  He  would  not  suffer  the 
names  to  be  inscribed,  except  only  of  men  who  fell  in  the 
wars,  or  women  who  died  in  a  sacred  office.  The  time, 
too,  appointed  for  mourning,  was  very  short,  eleven  days ; 
on  the  twelfth,  they  were  to  do  sacrifice  to  Ceres,  and 
leave  it  off;  so  that  we  may  see,  that  as  he  cut  off  all 
superfluity,  so  in  things  necessary  there  was  nothing  so 
small  and  trivial  which  did  not  express  some  homage  of 
virtue  or  scorn  of  vice.  He  filled  Lacedoemon  all  through 
with  proofs  and  examples  of  good  conduct ;  with  the  con- 
stant sight  of  which  from  their  youth  up,  the  people 
would  hardly  fail  to  be  gradually  formed  and  advanced 
in  virtue. 

And  this  was  the  reason  why  he  forbade  them  to  travel 


120  LYCURGUS. 

abroad,  and  go  about  acquainting  themselves  with  foreign 
rules  of  morality,  the  habits  of  ill-educated  people,  and 
different  views  of  government.  Withal  he  banished 
from  Lacedsemon  all  strangers  who  could  not  give  a  very 
good  reason  for  their  coming  thither ;  not  because  he  was 
afraid  lest  they  should  inform  themselves  of  and  imitate 
his  manner  of  government  (as  Thucydides  says),  or 
learn  any  thing  to  their  good ;  but  rather  lest  they  should 
introduce  something  contrary  to  good  manners.  With 
strange  people,  strange  words  must  be  admitted ;  these 
novelties  produce  novelties  in  thought ;  and  on  these  fol- 
low views  and  feelings  whose  discordant  character  destroys 
the  harmony  of  the  state.  He  was  as  careful  to  save  his 
city  from  the  infection  of  foreign  bad  habits,  as  men 
usually  are  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  a  pestilence. 

Hitherto  I,  for  my  part,  see  no  sign  of  injustice  or  want 
of  equity  in  the  laws  of  Lycurgus,  though  some  who  ad- 
mit them  to  be  well  contrived  to  make  good  soldiers,  pro- 
nounce them  defective  in  point  of  justice.     The  Cryptia, 
perhaps   (if   it   were    one    of  Lycurgus's    ordinances,  as 
Aristotle  says  it  was),  gave  both  him  and  Plato,  too,  this 
opinion  alike  of  the  lawgiver  and  his  government.     By 
this  ordinance,  the  magistrates  despatched  privately  some 
of  the  ablest  of  the  young  men  into  the  country,  from 
time  to  time,  armed  only  with  their  daggers,  and  taking 
a  little  necessary  provision  with  them;  in  the  daytime, 
they  hid  themselves  in  out-of-the-way  places,  and  there 
lay  close,  but,  in  the  night,  issued   out   into  the   high- 
ways, and  killed  all  the  Helots  they  could  light  upon; 
sometimes  they  set  upon  them  by  day,  as  they  were  at 
work  in  the  fields,  and  murdered  them.     As,  also,  Thucy- 
dides, in  his  history  of  the  Peloponnesian  war,  tells  us, 
that  a  good  number  of  them,  after  being  singled  out  for 
their  bravery  by  the  Spartans,  garlanded,  as  enfranchised 
persons,  and  led    about  to   all  the  temples  in  token  of 


LYCURGUS.  121 

honors,  shortly  after  disappeared  all  of  a  sudden,  being 
about  the  number  of  two  thousand ;  and  no  man  either 
then  or  since  could  give  an  account  how  they  came  by 
their  deaths.  And  Aristotle,  in  particular,  adds,  that  the 
ephori,  so  soon  as  they  were  entered  into  their  office,  used 
to  declare  war  against  them,  that  they  might  be  massa- 
cred without  a  breach  of  religion.  It  is  confessed,  on  all 
hands,  that  the  Spartans  dealt  with  them  very  hardly  ; 
for  it  was  a  common  thing  to  force  them  to  drink  to 
excess,  and  to  lead  them  in  that  condition  into  their  pub- 
lic halls,  that  the  children  might  see  what  a  sight  a 
drunken  man  is ;  they  made  them  to  dance  low  dances, 
and  sing  ridiculous  songs,  forbidding  them  expressly  to 
meddle  with  any  of  a  better  kind.  And,  accordingly, 
when  the  Thebans  made  their  invasion  into  Laconia,  and 
took  a  great  number  of  the  Helots,  they  could  by  no 
means  persuade  them  to  sing  the  verses  of  Terpander, 
Alcman,  or  Spendon,  "■  For,"  said  they,  "  the  masters  *  do 
not  like  it."  So  that  it  was  truly  observed  by  one,  that 
in  Sparta  he  who  was  free  was  most  so,  and  he  that 
was  a  slave  there,  the  greatest  slave  in  the  world.  For 
my  part,  I  am  of  opinion  that  these  outrages  and  cruel- 
ties began  to  be  exercised  in  Sparta  at  a  later  time, 
especially  after  the  great  earthquake,  when  the  Helots 
made  a  general  insurrection,  and,  joining  with  the  Mes- 
senians,  laid  the  country  waste,  and  brought  the  greatest 
danger  upon  the  city.  For  I  cannot  persuade  myself  to 
ascribe  to  Lycurgus  so  wicked  and  barbarous  a  course, 
judging  of  him  from  the  gentleness  of  his  disposition  and 
justice  upon  all  other  occasions ;  to  which  the  oracle  also 
testified. 

When  he   perceived  that  his  more  important  institu- 
tions had  taken  root  in  the  minds  of  his  countrymen,  that 

*  Literally,  "the  lordships" — tas  desposynas. 


122  LYCURGUS. 

custom  had  rendered  them  familiar  and  easy,  that  his  com- 
monwealth was  now  grown  up  and  able  to  go  alone, 
then,  as,  Plato  somewhere  tells  us,  the  Maker  of  the  world, 
when  first  he  saw  it  existing  and  beginning  its  motion, 
felt  joy,  even  so  Lycurgus,  viewing  with  joy  and  satisfac- 
tion the  greatness  and  beauty  of  his  political  structure, 
now  fairly  at  work  and  in  motion,  conceived  the  thought 
to  make  it  immortal  too,  and,  as  far  as  human  forecast 
could  reach,  to  deliver  it  down  unchangeable  to  posterity. 
He  called  an  extraordinary  assembly  of  all  the  people, 
and  told  them  that  he  now  thought  every  thing  reason- 
ably well  established,  both  for  the  happiness  and  the  vir- 
tue of  the  state ;  but  that  there  was  one  thing  still  behind, 
of  the  greatest  importance,  which  he  thought  not  fit  to 
impart  until  he  had  consulted  the  oracle ;  in  the  mean 
time,  his  desire  was  that  they  would  observe  the  laws 
without  any  the  least  alteration  until  his  return,  and  then 
he  would  do  as  the  god  should  direct  him.  They  all  con- 
sented readily,  and  bade  him  hasten  his  journey ;  but,  before 
he  departed,  he  administered  an  oath  to  the  two  kings, 
the  senate,  and  the  whole  commons,  to  abide  by  and  main- 
tain the  established  form  of  polity  until  Lycurgus  should 
be  come  back.  This  done,  he  set  out  for  Delphi,  and,  hav- 
ing sacrificed  to  Apollo,  asked  him  whether  the  laws  he 
had  established  were  good,  and  sufficient  for  a  people's 
happiness  and  virtue.  The  oracle  answered  that  the  laws 
were  excellent,  and  that  the  people,  while  it  observed 
them,  should  live  in  the  height  of  renown.  Lycurgus  took 
the  oracle  in  writing,  and  sent  it  over  to  Sparta;  and, 
having  sacrificed  the  second  time  to  Apollo,  and  taken 
leave  of  his  friends  and  his  son,  he  resolved  that  the  Spar- 
tans should  not  be  released  from  the  oath  they  had  taken, 
and  that  he  would,  of  his  own  act,  close  his  life  where  he 
was.  He  was  now  about  that  age  in  which  life  wfis  still 
tolerable,  and  yet  might  be  quitted  without  regret.  Every 


LYCURGUS.  123 

thing,  morever,  about  him  was  in  a  sufficiently  prosperous 
condition.  He,  therefore,  made  an  end  of  himself  by  a 
total  abstinence  from  food  ;  thinking  it  a  statesman's  duty 
to  make  his  very  death,  if  possible,  an  act  of  service  to 
the  state,  and  even  in  the  end  of  his  life  to  give  some 
example  of  virtue  and  effect  some  useful  purpose.  He 
would,  on  the  one  hand,  crown  and  consummate  his  own 
happiness  by  a  death  suitable  to  so  honorable  a  life,  and, 
on  the  other,  would  secure  to  his  countrymen  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  advantages  he  had  spent  his  life  in  obtaining 
for  them,  since  they  had  solemnly  sworn  the  maintenance 
of  his  institutions  until  his  return.  Nor  was  he  deceived 
in  his  expectations,  for  the  city  of  Lacedaamon  continued 
the  chief  city  of  all  Greece  for  the  space  of  five  hundred 
years,  in  strict  observance  of  Lycurgus's  laws ;  in  all 
which  time  there  was  no  manner  of  alteration  made,  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  fourteen  kings,  down  to  the  time  of  Agis, 
the  son  of  Archidamus.  For  the  new  creation  of  the 
ephori,  though  thought  to  be  in  favor  of  the  people, 
was  so  far  from  diminishing,  that  it  very  much  height- 
ened, the  aristocratical  character  of  the  government. 

In  the  time  of  Agis,  gold  and  silver  first  flowed  into 
Sparta,  and  with  them  all  those  mischiefs  which  attend 
the  immoderate  desire  of  riches.  Lysander  promoted 
this  disorder;  for,  by  bringing  in  rich  spoils  from  the 
wars,  although  himself  incorrujot,  he  yet  by  this  means 
filled  his  country  with  avarice  and  luxury,  and  subverted 
the  laws  and  ordinances  of  Lycurgus ;  so  long  as  which 
were  in  force,  the  aspect  presented  by  Sparta  was  rather 
that  of  a  rule  of  life  Ibllowed  by  one  wise  and  temper- 
ate man,  than  of  the  political  government  of  a  nation. 
And  as  the  poets  feign  of  Hercules,  that,  with  his  lion's 
skin  and  his  club,  he  went  over  the  world,  punishing 
lawless  and  cruel  tyrants,  so  may  it  be  said  of  the  Lace- 


124  LYCURGUS. 

daemonians,  that,  with  a  common  staff*  and  a  coarse  coat, 
they  gained  the  willing  and  joyful  obedience  of  Greece, 
through  whose  whole  extent  they  suppressed  unjust 
usurpations  and  despotisms,  arbitrated  in  war,  and  com- 
posed civil  dissensions ;  and  this  often  without  so  much  as 
taking  down  one  buckler,  but  barely  by  sending  some 
one  single  deputy,  to  whose  direction  all  at  once  submit- 
ted, like  bees  swarming  and  taking  their  places  around 
their  prince.  Such  a  fund  of  order  and  equity,  enough 
and  to  spare  for  others,  existed  in  their  state. 

And  therefore  I  cannot  but  wonder  at  those  who  say 
that  the  Spartans  were  good  subjects,  but  bad  governors, 
and  for  proof  of  it  allege  a  saying  of  king  Theopompus, 
who,  when  one  said  that  Sparta  held  up  so  long  because 
their  kings  could  command  so  well,  replied,  "Nay, 
rather  because  the  people  know  so  well  how  to  obey." 
For  people  do  not  obey,  unless  rulers  know  how  to  com- 
mand ;  obedience  is  a  lesson  taught  by  commanders.  A 
true  leader  himself  creates  the  obedience  of  his  own  fol- 
lowers ;  as  it  is  the  last  attainment  in  the  art  of  riding 
to  make  a  horse  gentle  and  tractable,  so  is  it  of  the 
science  of  government,  to  inspire  men  with  a  willingness 
to  obey.  The  Lacedaemonians  inspired  men  not  with  a 
mere  willingness,  but  with  an  absolute  desire,  to  be  their 
subjects.  For  they  did  not  send  petitions  to  them  for 
ships  or  money,  or  a  supply  of  armed  men,  but  only  for  a 
Spartan  commander ;  and,  having  obtained  one,  used  him 
\vith  honor  and  reverence ;  so  the  Sicihans  behaved  to 
Gylippus,  the  Chalcidians  to  Brasidas,  and  all  the  Greeks 
in  Asia  to  Lysander,  CaUicratidas,  and  Agesilaus ;  they 
styled  them  the  composers  and  chasteners  of  each  people 
or  prince  they  were  sent  to,  and  had  their  eyes  always 

*  The  scytale,  around  which  their  despatches  were  rolled. 


LYCURGUS.  125 

fixed  upon  the  city  of  Sparta  itself,  as  the  perfect  model 
of  good  manners  and  wise  government.  The  rest  seemed 
as  scholars,  they  the  masters  of  Greece ;  and  to  this  Stra- 
tonicus  pleasantly  alluded,  when  in  jest  he  pretended 
to  make  a  law  that  the  Athenians  should  conduct  reli- 
gious processions  and  the  mysteries,  the  Eleans  should 
preside  at  the  Olympic  games,  and,  if  either  did  amiss, 
the  Lacedaemonians  be  beaten.  Antisthenes,  too,  one 
of  the  scholars  of  Socrates,  said,  in  earnest,  of  the  The- 
bans,  when  they  were  elated  by  their  victory  at  Leuctra, 
that  they  looked  like  schoolboys  who  had  beaten  theu" 
master. 

However,  it  was  not  the  design  of  Lycurgus  that  his 
city  should  govern  a  great  many  others;  he  thought 
rather  that  the  happiness  of  a  state,  as  of  a  private  man, 
consisted  chiefly  in  the  exercise  of  virtue,  and  in  the  con- 
cord of  the  inhabitants;  his  aim,  therefore,  in  all  his 
arrangements,  was  to  make  and  keep  them  free-minded, 
self-dependent,  and  temperate.  And  therefore  all  those 
who  have  written  well  on  politics,  as  Plato,  Diogenes,  and 
Zeno,  have  taken  Lycurgus  for  their  model,  leaving  be- 
hind them,  however,  mere  projects  and  words ;  whereas 
Lycurgus  was  the  author,  not  in  writing  but  in  reality,  of 
a  government  which  none  else  could  so  much  as  copy ; 
and  while  men  in  general  have  treated  the  individual 
philosophic  character  as  unattainable,  he,  by  the  example 
of  a  complete  philosophic  state,  raised  himself  high  above 
all  other  lawgivers  of  Greece.  And  so  Aristotle  says  they 
did  him  less  honor  at  Lacedoemon  after  his  death  than  he 
deserved,  although  he  has  a  temple  there,  and  they  offer 
sacrifices  yearly  to  him  as  to  a  god. 

It  is  reported  that  when  his  bones  were  brought  home 
to  Sparta  his  tomb  was  struck  with  lightning;  an  acci- 
dent which  befell  no  eminent  person  but  himself,  and 
Euripides,  who    was  buried    at  Arethusa  in  Macedonia ; 


126  LYCURGUS. 

and  it  may  serve  that  poet's  admirers  as  a  testimony  m 
his  favor,  that  he  had  in  this  the  same  fate  with  that  holy 
man  and  favorite  of  the  gods.  Some  say  Lycurgus  died 
in  Cirrha ;  Apollothemis  says,  after  he  had  come  to  Elis ; 
Timseus  and  Aristoxenus,  that  he  ended  his  Hfe  in  Crete ; 
Aristoxenus  adds  that  his  tomb  is  shown  by  the  Cretans  in 
the  district  of  Pergamus,  near  the  strangers'  road.  He  left 
an  only  son,  Antiorus,  on  whose  death  without  issue,  his 
family  became  extinct.  But  his  relations  and  friends  kept 
up  an  annual  commemoration  of  him  down  to  a  long  time 
after ;  and  the  days  of  the  meeting  were  called  Lycurgides. 
Aristocrates,  the  son  of  Hipparchus,  says  that  he  died  in 
Crete,  and  that  his  Cretan  friends,  in  accordance  with  his 
own  request,  when  they  had  burned  his  body,  scattered 
the  ashes  into  the  sea ;  for  fear  lest,  if  his  relics  should  be 
transported  to  Lacedaemon,  the  people  might  pretend 
to  be  released  from  their  oaths,  and  make  innovations  in 
the  government.  Thus  much  may  suffice  for  the  life  and 
actions  of  Lycurgus, 


NUMA    POMPILIUS. 


Though  the  pedigrees  of  noble  families  of  Rome  go 
back  in  exact  form  as  far  as  Numa  Pompiliiis,  yet  there 
is  great  diversity  amongst  historians  concerning  the  time 
in  which  he  reigned ;  a  certain  writer  called  Clodius,*  in 
a  book  of  his  entitled  Strictures  on  Chronology,  avers 
that  the  ancient  registers  of  Rome  were  lost  when  the 
city  was  sacked  by  the  Gauls,  and  that  those  which  are 
now  extant  were  counterfeited,  to  flatter  and  serve  the 
humor  of  some  men  who  wished  to  have  themselves 
derived  from  some  ancient  and  noble  lineage,  though  in 
reality  with  no  claim  to  it.  And  though  it  be  commonly 
reported  that  Numa  was  a  scholar  and  a  familiar  ac- 
quaintance of  Pythagoras,  yet  it  is  again  contradicted 
by  others,  who  affirm,  that  he  was  acquainted  with  nei- 
ther the  Greek  language  nor  learning,  and  that  he  was  a 
person  of  that  natural  talent  and  ability  as  of  himself  to 
attain  to  virtue,  or  else  that  he  found  some  barbarian  in- 
structor superior  to  Pythagoras.  Some  affirm,  also,  that 
Pythagoras  was  not  contemporary  with  Numa,  but  lived  at 
least  five  generations  after  him ;  and  that  some  other  Py- 
thagoras, a  native  of  Sparta,  who,  in  the  sixteenth  Olym- 
piad, in  the  third  year  of  which  Numa  became  king,  won 
a  prize  at  the  Olympic  race,  might,  m  his  travel  through 

*  Probably  Claudius  Qnadrigarius. 

(127) 


128  NUMA. 

Italy,  have  gained  acquaintance  with  Numa,  and  assisted 
him  in  the  constitution  of  his  kingdom ;  whence  it  comes 
that  many  Laconian  laws  and  customs  appear  amongst 
the  Roman  institutions.  Yet,  in  any  case,  Numa  was 
descended  of  the  Sabines,  who  declare  themselves  to  be 
a  colony  of  the  Lacedasmonians.  And  chronology,  in 
general,  is  uncertain ;  especially  when  fixed  by  the  lists 
of  victors  in  the  Olympic  games,  which  were  published 
at  a  late  period  by  Hippias  the  Elean,  and  rest  on  no 
positive  authority.  Commencing,  however,  at  a  conveni- 
ent point,  we  will  proceed  to  give  the  most  noticeable 
events  that  are  recorded  of  the  life  of  Numa. 

It  was  the  thirty-seventh  year,  counted  from  the  foun- 
dation of  Rome,  when  Romulus,  then  reigning,  did,  on  the 
fifth  day  of  the  month  of  July,  called  the  Caprotine 
Nones,  offer  a  public  sacrifice  at  the  Goat's  Marsh,  in 
presence  of  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome.  Suddenly 
the  sky  was  darkened,  a  thick  cloud  of  storm  and  rain 
settled  on  the  earth ;  the  common  people  fled  in  affright, 
and  were  dispersed ;  and  in  this  whirlwind  Romulus  dis- 
appeared, his  body  being  never  found  either  living  or 
dead.  A  foul  suspicion  presently  attached  to  the  patri- 
cians, and  rumors  were  current  among  the  people  as  if 
that  they,  weary  of  kingly  government,  and  exasperated 
of  late  by  the  imperious  deportment  of  Romulus  towards 
them,  had  plotted  against  his  life  and  made  him  away, 
that  so  they  might  assume  the  authority  and  government 
into  their  own  hands.  This  suspicion  they  sought  to  turn 
aside  by  decreeing  divine  honors  to  Romulus,  as  to  one 
not  dead  but  translated  to  a  higher  condition.  And 
Proculus,  a  man  of  note,  took  oath  that  he  saw  Romulus 
caught  up  into  heaven  in  his  arms  and  vestments,  and 
heard  him,  as  he  ascended,  cry  out  that  they  should  here- 
after style  him  by  the  name  of  Qnirinus. 

This  trouble,  being  appeased,  was  followed  by  another, 
about  the  election  of  a  new  king :  for  the  minds  of  the 


NUMA.  129 

original  Romans  and  the  new  inhabitants  were  not  as  yet 
grown  into  that  perfect  unity  of  temper,  but  that  there 
were  diversities  of  factions  amongst  the  commonalty,  and 
jealousies  and  emulations  amongst  the  senators;  for 
though  all  agreed  that  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  king, 
yet  what  person  or  of  which  nation,  was  matter  of  dispute. 
For  those  who  had  been  builders  of  the  city  with  Romu- 
lus, and  had  already  yielded  a  share  of  their  lands  and 
dwellings  to  the  Sabines,  were  indignant  at  any  preten- 
sion on  their  part  to  rule  over  their  benefactors.  On  the 
other  side,  the  Sabines  could  plausibly  allege,  that,  at  their 
king  Tatius's  decease,  they  had  peaceably  submitted  to 
the  sole  command  of  Romulus ;  so  now  their  turn  was 
come  to  have  a  king  chosen  out  of  their  own  nation ;  nor 
did  they  esteem  themselves  to  have  combined  with  the 
Romans  as  inferiors,  nor  to  have  contributed  less  than 
they  to  the  increase  of  Rome,  which,  without  their  num- 
bers and  association,  could  scarcely  have  merited  the 
name  of  a  city. 

Thus  did  both  parties  argue  and  dispute  their  cause ; 
but  lest  meanwhile  discord,  in  the  absence  of  all  com- 
mand, should  occasion  general  confusion,  it  was  agreed 
that  the  hundred  and  fifty  senators  should  interchangea- 
bly execute  the  office  of  supreme  magistrate,  and  each  in 
succession,  with  the  ensigns  of  royalty,  should  offer  the 
solemn  sacrifices  and  despatch  public  business  for  the 
space  of  six  hours  by  day  and  six  by  night ;  which  vicis- 
situde and  equal  distribution  of  power  would  preclude  all 
rivalry  amongst  the  senators  and  envy  from  the  people, 
when  they  should  behold  one,  elevated  to  the  degree  of  a 
king,  levelled  within  the  space  of  a  day  to  the  condition 
of  a  private  citizen.  This  form  of  government  is  termed, 
by  the  Romans,  interregnum.  Nor  yet  could  they,  by 
this  plausible  and  modest  way  of  rule,  escape  suspicion 
and  clamor  of  the  vulgar,  as  though  they  were  changing 

VOL.  L  9 


130  NUMA. 

the  form  of  government  to  an  oligarchy,  and  designing  to 
keep  the  supreme  power  in  a  sort  of  wardship  under  them- 
selves, without  ever  proceeding  to  choose  a  king.  Both 
parties  came  at  length  to  the  conclusion  tliat  the  one 
should  choose  a  king  out  of  the  body  of  the  other ;  the 
Komans  make  choice  of  a  Sabine,  or  the  Sabines  name  a 
Roman  ;  this  was  esteemed  the  best  expedient  to  put  an 
end  to  all  party  spirit,  and  the  prince  who  should  be 
chosen  would  have  an  equal  affection  to  the  one  party  as 
his  electors  and  to  the  other  as  his  kinsmen.  The  Sa- 
bines remitted  the  choice  to  the  original  Komans,  and 
they,  too,  on  their  piirt,  were  more  inclinable  to  receive  a 
Sabine  king  elected  by  themselves  than  to  see  a  Roman 
exalted  by  the  Sabines.  Consultations  being  accordingly 
held,  they  named  Numa  Pompilius,  of  the  Sabine  race,  a  per- 
son of  that  high  reputation  for  excellence,  that,  though  he 
were  not  actually  residing  at  Rome,  yet  he  was  no  sooner 
nominated  than  accepted  by  the  Sabines,  with  acclama- 
tion almost  greater  than  that  of  the  electors  themselves. 

The  choice  being  declared  and  made  known  to  the 
people,  principal  men  of  both  parties  were  appointed  to 
visit  and  entreat  him,  that  he  would  accept  the  admini- 
stration of  the  government.  Numa  resided  at  a  famous 
city  of  the  Sabines  called  Cures,  whence  the  Romans  and 
Sabines  gave  themselves  the  joint  name  of  Quirites. 
Pomponius,  an  illustrious  person,  was  his  father,  and  he  the 
youngest  of  his  four  sons,  being  (as  it  had  been  divinely 
ordered)  born  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  April,  the  day 
of  the  foundation  of  Rome.  He  was  endued  with  a  soul 
rarely  tempered  by  nature,  and  disposed  to  virtue,  wdiich 
he  had  yet  more  subdued  by  discipline,  a  severe  life,  and 
the  study  of  philosophy ;  means  which  had  not  only  suc- 
ceeded in  expelling  the  baser  passions,  but  also  the  violent 
and  rapacious  temper  which  barbarians  are  apt  to  think 
highly  of;  true  bravery,  in  his  judgment,  was  regarded 


KUH^IA.  131 

as  consisting  in  the  subjugation  of  our  passions  by 
reason. 

He  banished  all  luxury  and  softness  from  his  own 
home,  and,  while  citizens  alike  and  strangers  found  in  him 
an  incorruptible  judge  and  counsellor,  in  private  he  de- 
voted himself  not  to  amusement  or  lucre,  but  to  the  wor- 
ship of  the  immortal  gods,  and  the  rational  contemplation 
of  their  divine  power  and  nature.  So  famous  was  he, 
that  Tatius,  the  colleague  of  Romulus,  chose  him  for  his 
son-in-law,  and  gave  him  his  only  daughter,  w^hich,  how- 
ever, did  not  stimulate  his  vanity  to  desire  to  dwell  with 
his  father-in-law  at  Rome ;  he  rather  chose  to  inhabit  with 
his  Sabines,  and  cherish  his  own  father  in  his  old  age  ; 
and  Tatia,  also,  preferred  the  private  condition  of  her  hus- 
band before  the  honors  and  splendor  she  might  have  en- 
joyed with  her  father.  She  is  said  to  have  died  after  she 
had  been  married  thirteen  years,  and  then  Numa,  leaving 
the  conversation  of  the  town,  betook  himself  to  a  country 
life,  and  in  a  solitary  manner  frequented  the  groves  and 
fields  consecrated  to  the  gods,  passing  his  life  in  desert 
places.  And  this  in  particular  gave  occasion  to  the  story 
about  the  goddess,  namely,  that  Numa  did  not  retire  from 
human  society  out  of  any  melancholy  or  disorder  of  mind, 
but  because  he  had  tasted  the  joys  of  more  elevated  in- 
tercourse, and,  admitted  to  celestial  wedlock  in  the  love 
and  converse  of  the  goddess  Egeria,  had  attained  to  bles- 
Bedness,  and  to  a  divine  wisdom. 

The  story  evidently  resembles  those  very  ancient  fables 
which  the  Phrygians  have  received  and  still  recount  of 
Attis,  the  Bithynians  of  Herodotus,  the  Arcadians  of  En- 
dymion,  not  to  mention  several  others  who  were  thought 
blessed  and  beloved  of  the  gods  ;  nor  does  it  seem  strange 
if  God,  a  lover,  not  of  horses  or  birds,  but  men,  should  not 
disdain  to  dwell  with  the  virtuous  and  converse  with  the 
wise  and  temperate  soul,  though  it  be  altogether  hard, 


132  NUMA- 

indeed,  to  believe,  that  any  god  or  daemon  is  capable  of 
a  sensual  or  bodily  love  and  passion  for  any  human  form 
or  beauty.  Though,  indeed,  the  wise  Egyptians  do  not 
unplausibly  make  the  distinction,  that  it  may  be  possible 
for  a  divine  spirit  so  to  apply  itself  to  the  nature  of  a 
woman,  as  to  imbreed  in  her  the  first  beginnings  of  gene- 
ration, while  on  the  other  side  they  conclude  it  impossi- 
ble for  the  male  kind  to  have  any  intercourse  or  mixture 
by  the  body  with  any  divinity,  not  considering,  however, 
that  what  takes  place  on  the  one  side,  must  also  take 
place  on  the  other ;  intermixture,  by  force  of  terms,  is 
reciprocal.  Not  that  it  is  otherwise  than  befitting  to  sup- 
pose that  the  gods  feel  towards  men  afiection,  and  love, 
in  the  sense  of  affection,  and  in  the  form  of  care  and  solici- 
tude for  their  virtue  and  their  good  dispositions.  And, 
therefore,  it  was  no  error  of  those  who  feigned,  that  Phor- 
bas,  Hyacinthus,  and  Admetus  were  beloved  by  Apollo ; 
or  that  Hippolytus  the  Sicyonian  was  so  much  in  his 
favor,  that,  as  often  as  he  sailed  from  Sicyon  to  Cirrha,  the 
Pythian  prophetess  uttered  this  heroic  verse,  expressive 
of  the  god's  attention  and  joy : 

Now  doth  Hippolytus  return  again, 
And  venture  his  dear  life  upon  the  main. 

It  is  reported,  also,  that  Pan  became  enamoured  of  Pin- 
dar for  his  verses,  and  the  divine  power  rendered  honor 
to  Hesiod  and  Aichilochus  after  their  death  for  the  sake 
of  the  Muses ;  there  is  a  statement,  also,  that  ^sculapius 
sojourned  with  Sophocles  in  his  lifetime,  of  which  many 
proofs  still  exist,  and  that,  when  he  was  dead,  another 
deity  took  care  for  his  funeral  rites.  And  so  if  any  credit 
may  be  given  to  these  instances,  why  should  we  judge 
it  incongruous,  that  a  like  spirit  of  the  gods  should  visit 
Zaleucus,  Minos,  Zoroaster,  Lycurgus,  and  Numa,  the 
controllers  of  kingdoms,  and  the  legislators  for  common- 


NUMA.  233 

wealths  ?  Nay,  it  may  be  reasonable  to  believe,  that  the 
gods,  with  a  serious  purpose,  assist  at  the  councils  and 
serious  debates  of  such  men,  to  inspire  and  direct  them ; 
and  visit  poets  and  musicians,  if  at  all,  in  their  more 
sportive  moods;  but,  for  difference  of  opinion  here,  as 
Bacchylides  said,  "  the  road  is  broad."  For  there  is  no 
absurdity  in  the  account  also  given,  that  Lycurgus  and 
Numa,  and  other  famous  lawgivers,  having  the  task  of 
subduing  perverse  and  refractory  multitudes,  and  of  in- 
troducing great  innovations,  themselves  made  this  preten- 
sion to  divine  authority,  which,  if  not  true,  assuredly  was 
expedient  for  the  interests  of  those  it  imposed  upon. 

Numa  was  about  forty  years  of  age  when  the  ambas- 
sadors came  to  make  him  offers  of  the  kingdom;  the 
speakers  were  Proculus  and  Velesus,'*"  one  or  other  of 
whom  it  had  been  thought  the  people  would  elect  as 
their  new  king ;  the  original  Romans  being  for  Proculus, 
and  the  Sabines  for  Velesus.  Their  speech  was  very 
short,  supposing  that,  when  they  came  to  tender  a  king- 
dom, there  needed  little  to  persuade  to  an  acceptance ; 
but,  contrary  to  their  expectation,  they  found  that  they 
had  to  use  many  reasons  and  entreaties  to  induce  one, 
that  lived  in  peace  and  quietness,  to  accept  the  govern- 
ment of  a  city  whose  foundation  and  increase  had  been 
made,  in  a  manner,  in  war.  In  presence  of  his  father  and 
his  kinsman  Marcius,  he  returned  answer  that  "  Every 
alteration  of  a  man's  life  is  dangerous  to  him ;  but  mad- 
ness only  could  induce  one  who  needs  nothing  and  is 
satisfied  with  every  thing  to  quit  a  life  he  is  accustomed 
to ;  which,  whatever  else  it  is  deficient  in,  at  any  rate  has 
the  advantage  of  certainty  over  one  wholly  doubtful  and 
unknown.  Though,  indeed,  the  difficulties  of  this  gov- 
ernment cannot  even  be  called  unknown ;  Romulus,  who 
first  held  it,  did  not  escape  the  suspicion  of  having  plot- 

*  Or  Volesus,  founder  of  the  Valerian  house- 


134  NUMA. 

ted  against  the  life  of  his  colleague  Tatius ;  nor  the  sen- 
ate the  like  accusation,  of  having  treasonably  murdered 
Romulus.     Yet  Eomulus  had  the  advantage  to  be  thought 
divinely  born  and  miraculously  preserved  and  nurtured. 
My  birth  was  mortal ;   I  was  reared  and  instructed  by 
men  that  are  known  to   you.     The  very  points  of  my 
character  that  are  most  commended  mark  me  as  unfit  to 
reign,  —  love  of  retirement  and   of  studies   inconsistent 
with   business,  a  passion  that  has  become  inveterate  in 
me  for  peace,  for  unwarlike  occupations,  and  for  the  so- 
ciety of  men  whose  meetings  are  but  those  of  worship  and 
of  kindly  intercourse,  whose  lives  in  general  are  spent 
upon  their  farms  and  their  pastures.     I  should  but  be, 
me  thinks,  a  laughing-stock,  while  I  should  go  about  to  in- 
culcate the  worship  of  the  gods,  and  give  lessons  in  the 
love  of  justice  and  the  abhorrence  of  violence  and  war,  to 
a  city  whose  needs  are  rather  for  a  captain  than  for  a  king." 
The  Romans,  perceiving  by  these  words  that  he  was 
declining  to  accept  the  kingdom,  were  the  more  instant 
and  urgent  with  him  that  he  would  not  forsake  and  desert 
them  in  this  condition,  and  suffer  them  to  relapse,  as  they 
must,  into  their  former  sedition  and  civil  discord,  there 
being  no  person  on  whom  both  parties  could  accord  but 
on  himself     And,  at  length,  his  father  and  Marcius,  taking 
him  aside,  persuaded  him  to  accept  a   gift  so  noble  in 
itself,  and  tendered  to  him  rather  from  heaven  than  from 
men.     "Though,"  said  they,  "you  neither  desire  riches, 
being  content  with  what  you  have,  nor  court  the  fame  of 
authority,  as  having  already  the  more  valuable  fame  of 
virtue,  yet  you  will  consider  that  government  itself  is  a 
service  of  God,  who  now  calls  out  into  action  your  quali- 
ties of  justice  and  wisdom,  which  were  not  meant  to  be 
left  useless  and  unemployed.     Cease,  therefore,  to  avoid 
and  turn  your  back  upon  an  office  which,  to  a  wise  man, 
is  a  field  for  great  and  honorable  actions,  for  the  magnifi- 


NUMA.  135 

cent  worship  of  the  gods,  and  for  the  introduction  of 
habits  of  piety,  which  authority  alone  can  effect  amongst 
a  people.  Tatius,  though  a  foreigner,  was  beloved,  and 
the  memory  of  Romulus  has  received  divine  honors ;  and 
who  knows  but  that  this  people,  being  victorious,  may  be 
satiated  with  war,  and,  content  with  the  trophies  and 
spoils  they  have  acquired,  may  be,  above  all  things,  desi- 
rous to  have  a  pacific  and  justice-loving  prince,  to  lead 
them  to  good  order  and  quiet?  But  if,  indeed,  their 
desires  are  uncontrollably  and  madly  set  on  war,  were  it 
not  better,  then,  to  have  the  reins  held  by  such  a  moder- 
ating hand  as  is  able  to  divert  the  fury  another  way,  and 
that  your  native  city  and  the  whole  Sabine  nation  should 
possess  in  you  a  bond  of  good-will  and  friendship  with 
this  young  and  growing  power  ?  " 

With  these  reasons  and  persuasions  several  auspicious 
omens  are  said  to  have  concurred,  and  the  zeal,  also,  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  who,  on  understanding  what  message  the 
Roman  ambassadors  had  brought  him,  entreated  him  to 
accompany  them,  and  to  accept  the  kingdom  as  a  means 
to  unanimity  and  concord  between  the  nations. 

Numa,  yielding  to  these  inducements,  having  first  per- 
formed divine  sacrifice,  proceeded  to  Rome,  being  met  in 
his  way  by  the  senate  and  people,  who,  with  an  impatient 
desire,  came  forth  to  receive  him ;  the  women,  also,  wel- 
comed him  with  joyful  acclamations,  and  sacrifices  were 
offered  for  him  in  all  the  temples,  and  so  universal  was 
the  joy,  that  they  seemed  to  be  receiving,  not  a  new  king, 
but  a  new  kingdom.  In  this  manner  he  descended  into 
the  forum,  where  Spurius  Yettius,  whose  turn  it  was  to 
be  interrex  at  that  hour,  put  it  to  the  vote;  and  all 
declared  him  king.  Then  the  regalities  and  robes  of 
authority  were  brought  to  him;  but  he  refused  to  be 
invested  with  them  until  he  had  first  consulted  and  been 
confirmed  by  the  gods;    so,  being  accompanied  by  the 


136  NUMA. 

priests  and  augurs,  he  ascended  the  Capitol,  which  at  that 
time  the  Eomans  called  the  Tarpeian  Hill.  Then  the 
chief  of  the  augurs  covered  Numa's  head,  and  turned  his 
face  towards  the  south,  and,  standing  behhid  him,  laid  his 
right  hand  on  his  head,  and  prayed,  turning  his  eyes 
every  way,  in  expectation  of  some  auspicious  signal  from 
the  gods.  It  was  wonderful,  meantime,  with  what  silence 
and  devotion  the  multitude  stood  assembled  in  the  forum, 
in  similar  expectation  and  suspense,  till  auspicious  birds 
appeared  and  passed  on  the  right.  Then  Numa,  apparel- 
ling himself  in  his  royal  robes,  descended  from  the  hill  to 
the  people,  by  whom  he  was  received  and  congratulated 
with  shouts  and  acclamations  of  welcome,  as  a  holy  king, 
and  beloved  of  all  the  gods. 

The  first  thing  he  did  at  his  entrance  into  government 
was  to  dismiss  the  band  of  three  hundred  men  which  had 
been  Romulus's  life-guard,  called  by  him  Celeres,  saying, 
that  he  would  not  distrust  those  who  put  confidence  in 
him,  nor  rule  over  a  people  that  distrusted  him.  The 
next  thing  he  did  was  to  add  to  the  two  priests  of  Jupiter 
and  Mars  a  third  in  honor  of  Romulus,  whom  he  called 
the  Flamen  Quirinalis.  The  Romans  anciently  called 
their  priests  Flamines,  by  corruption  of  the  word  Pila- 
mines,  from  a  certain  cap  which  they  wore,  called  Pileus. 
In  those  times,  Greek  w^ords  were  more  mixed  with  the 
Latin  than  at  present ;  thus  also  the  royal  robe,  which  is 
called  Lsena,  Juba  says,  is  the  same  as  the  Greek  Chla3na ; 
and  that  the  name  of  Camillus,  given  to  the  boy  with 
both  his  parents  living,  who  serves  in  the  temple  of  Jupi- 
ter, was  taken  from  the  name  given  by  some  Greeks  to 
Mercury,  denoting  his  office  of  attendance  on  the  gods.* 

When  Numa  had,  by  such  measures,  won  the  favor  and 
affection  of  the  people,  he  set  himself,  without  delay,  to 
the  task  of  bringing  the  hard  and  iron  Roman  temper  to 
*  Cadolos  or  Cadoulos. 


NUMA.  137 

somewhat  more  of  gentleness  and  equity.  Plato's  ex- 
pression of  a  city  in  high  fever  was  never  more  applica- 
ble than  to  Rome  at  that  time ;  in  its  origin  formed  by 
daring  and  warlike  spirits,  whom  bold  and  desperate  ad- 
venture brought  thither  from  every  quarter,  it  had  found 
in  perpetual  wars  and  incursions  on  its  neighbors  its  after 
sustenance  and  means  of  growth,  and  in  conflict  with 
danger  the  source  of  new  strength  ;  like  piles,  which  the 
blows  of  the  rammer  serve  to  fix  into  the  o-round.  Where- 
fore  Numa,  judging  it  no  slight  undertaking  to  mollify 
and  bend  to  peace  the  presumptuous  and  stubborn  spirits 
of  this  people,  began  to  operate  upon  them  with  the  sanc- 
tions of  religion.  He  sacrificed  often,  and  used  proces- 
sions and  religious  dances,  in  which  most  commonly  he 
officiated  in  person ;  by  such  combinations  of  solemnity 
with  refined  and  humanizing  pleasures,  seeking  to  win 
over  and  mitigate  their  fiery  and  warlike  tempers.  At 
times,  also,  he  filled  their  imaginations  with  religious  ter- 
rors, professing  that  strange  apparitions  had  been  seen, 
and  dreadful  voices  heard ;  thus  subduing  and  humbling 
their  minds  by  a  sense  of  supernatural  fears. 

This  method  which  Numa  used  made  it  believed  that 
he  had  been  much  conversant  with  Pythagoras ;  for  in  the 
philosophy  of  the  one,  as  in  the  policy  of  the  other,  man's 
relations  to  the  deity  occupy  a  great  place.  It  is  said, 
also,  that  the  solemnity  of  his  exterior  garb  and  gestures 
was  adopted  by  him  from  the  same  feeling  with  Pythago- 
ras. For  it  is  said  of  Pj^thagoras,  that  he  had  taught  an 
eagle  to  come  at  his  call,  and  stoop  down  to  him  in  its 
flight ;  and  that,  as  he  passed  among  the  people  assembled 
at  the  Olympic  games,  he  showed  them  his  golden  thigh ; 
besides  many  other  strange  and  miraculous  seeming  prac- 
tices, on  which  Timon  the  Phliasian  wrote  the  distich,— 

Wlio,  of  the  glory  of  a  juggler  proud, 
With  solemn  talk  imposed  upon  the  crowd. 


138  NUMA, 

In  like  manner  Numa  spoke  of  a  certain  goddess  or  moun- 
tain nymph  that  was  in  love  with  him,  and  met  him  in 
secret,  as  before  related ;    and  professed  that  he  enter- 
tained familiar   conversation  with  the   Muses,   to  whose 
teaching  he  ascribed  the  greatest  part  of  his  revelations ; 
and  amongst  them,  above  all,  he  recommended  to  the 
veneration  of  the  Romans  one  in   particular,  whom  he 
named  Tacita,  the  Silent ;  which  he  did  perhaps  in  imita- 
tion and  honor  of  the  Pythagorean  silence.     His  opinion, 
also,  of  images  is  very  agreeable  to  the  doctrine  of  Pytha- 
goras ;  who  conceived  of  the  first  principle  of  being  as 
transcending  sense  and  passion,  invisible  and  incorrupt, 
and  only  to  be  apprehended  by  abstract  intelligence.     So 
Nuraa  forbade  the  Romans  to  represent  God  in  the  fonn 
of  man  or  beast,  nor  was  there  any  painted  or  graven 
image  of  a  deity  admitted  amongst  them  for  the  space  of 
the  first  hundred  and  sevent}'^  years,  all  which  time  their 
temples  and  chapels  were  kept  free  and  pure  from  im- 
ages ;  to  such  baser  objects  they  deemed  it  impious  to 
liken  the  highest,  and  all  access  to  God  impossible,  except 
by  the  pure  act  of  the  intellect.     His  sacrifices,  also,  had 
great  similitude  to  the  ceremonial  of  Pythagoras,  for  they 
were  not  celebrated  with  effusion  of  blood,  but  consisted 
of  flour,  wine,  and  the  least  costly  offerings.     Other  ex- 
ternal proofs,  too,  are  urged  to  show  the  connection  Numa 
had  with  Pythagoras.     The  comic  writer  Epicharmus,  an 
ancient  author,  and  of  the  school  of  Pythagoras,  in  a  book 
of  his  dedicated  to  Antenor,  records  that  Pythagoras  was 
made  a  freeman  of  Rome.     Again,  Numa  gave  to  one  of 
his  four  sons  the  name  of  Mamercus.  which  was  the  name 
of  one  of  the  sons  of  Pythagoras ;  from  whence,  as  they 
say.  sprang  that  ancient  patrician  family  of  the  ^milii_ 
for   that   the   king   gave  him  in   sport  the  surname  of 
j^milius,  for  his  engaging  and  graceful  manner  in  speak- 
ing.*    I  remember,  too,  that  when  I  was  at   Rome,  I 

*  Aimulos,  or  Pemylus,  Gr.,  engaging,  or  wily- 


NUMA.  139 

heard  many  say,  that,  when  the  oracle  directed  two  sta- 
tues to  be  raised,  one  to  the  wisest,  and  another  to  the 
most  vaHant  man  of  Greece,  they  erected  two  of  brass, 
one  representing  Alcibiades,  and  the  other  Pythagoras. 

But  to  pass  by  these  matters,  which  are  full  of  uncer- 
tainty, and  not  so  important  as  to  be  worth  our  time  to 
insist  on  them,  the  original  constitution  of  the  priests, 
called  Pontifices,  is  ascribed  unto  Numa,  and  he  himself 
was,  it  is  said,  the  first  of  them  ;  and  that  they  have  the 
name  of  Pontifices  from  potens^  powerful,  because  they 
attend  the  service  of  the  gods,  who  have  power  and  com- 
mand over  all.  Others  make  the  word  refer  to  excep- 
tions of  impossible  cases  ;  the  priests  were  to  perform  all 
the  duties  possible  to  them ;  if  any  thing  lay  beyond 
their  power,  the  exception  was  not  to  be  cavilled  at.  The 
most  common  opinion  is  the  most  absurd,  which  derives 
this  word  from  pons,  and  assigns  the  priests  the  title  of 
bridge-makers.  The  sacrifices  performed  on  the  bridge 
were  amongst  the  most  sacred  and  ancient,  and  the 
keeping  and  repairing  of  the  bridge  attached,  like  any 
other  public  sacred  office,  to  the  priesthood.  It  was  ac- 
counted not  simply  unlawful,  but  a  positive  sacrilege,  to 
pull  down  the  wooden  bridge  ;  which  moreover  is  said,  in 
obedience  to  an  oracle,  to  have  been  built  entirely  of  tim- 
ber and  fastened  with  wooden  pins,  without  nails  or 
cramps  of  iron.  The  stone  bridge  was  built  a  very  long 
time  after,  when  ^milius  was  quoestor,  and  they  do,  indeed, 
say  also  that  the  wooden  bridge  was  not  so  old  as  Numa's 
time,  but  was  finished  by  Ancus  Marcius,  when  ho  was 
king,  who  was  the  grandson  of  Numa  by  his  daughter. 

The  office  of  Pontifex  Maxiuius,  or  chief  priest,  was  to 
declare  and  interpret  the  divine  law,  or,  rather,  to  preside 
over  sacred  rites ;  he  not  only  prescribed  rules  for  public 
ceremony,  but  regulated  the  sacrifices  of  private  persons, 
not  sufiering  them  to  vary  from  established  custom,  and 


240  NTIRIA. 

giving  information  to  every  one  of  what  was  requisite  foi 
purposes  of  worship  or  supplication.  He  was  also  guar- 
dian of  the  vestal  virgins,  the  institution  of  whom,  and  of 
their  perpetual  fire,  was  attributed  to  Numa,  who,  perhaps, 
fancied  the  charge  of  pure  and  uncorrupted  flames  would 
be  fitly  intrusted  to  chaste  and  unpolluted  persons,  or 
that  fire,  which  consumes,  but  produces  nothing,  bears  an 
analogy  to  the  virgin  estate.  In  Greece,  wherever  a  per- 
petual holy  fire  is  kept,  as  at  Delphi  and  Athens,  the 
charge  of  it  is  committed,  not  to  virgins,  but  widows  past 
the  time  of  marriage.  And  in  case  by  any  accident  it 
should  happen  that  this  fire  became  extinct,  as  the  holy 
lamp  was  at  Athens  under  the  tyranny  of  Aristion, 
and  at  Delphi,  when  that  temple  was  burnt  by  the 
Medes,  as  also  in  the  time  of  the  Mithridatic  and  Roman 
civil  war,  when  not  only  the  fire  was  extinguished,  but 
the  altar  demolished,  then,  afterwards,  in  kindling  this 
fire  again,  it  was  esteemed  an  impiety  to  light  it  from 
common  sparks  or  flame,  or  from  any  thing  but  the  pure 
and  unpolluted  rays  of  the  sun,  which  they  usually  effect 
by  concave  mirrors,  of  a  figure  formed  by  the  revolution 
of  an  isosceles  rectangular  triangle,  all  the  lines  from  the 
circumference  of  which  meeting  in  a  centre,  by  holding 
it  in  the  light  of  the  sun  they  can  collect  and  concentrate 
all  its  rays  at  this  one  point  of  convergence ;  where  the 
air  will  now  become  rarefied,  and  any  light,  dry,  combus- 
tible matter  will  kindle  as  soon  as  applied,  under  the 
effect  of  the  rays,  which  here  acquire  the  substance  and 
active  force  of  fire.  Some  are  of  opinion  that  these  ves- 
tals had  no  other  business  than  the  preservation  of  this 
fire;  but  others  conceive  that  they  were  keepers  of 
other  divine  secrets,  concealed  from  all  but  themselves, 
of  which  we  have  told  all  that  may  lawfully  be  asked  or 
told,  in  the  life  of  Camillus.  Gegania  and  Verenia,  it  is 
recorded,  were  the  names  of  the  first  two  virgins  conse- 


NtnviA.  141 

crated  and  ordained  by  Numa;  Canuleia  and  Tarpeia 
succeeded ;  Servius  afterwards  added  two,  and  the  num- 
ber of  four  has  continued  to  the  present  time. 

The  statutes  prescribed  by  Numa  for  the  vestals  were 
these  :  that  they  should  take  a  vow  of  virginity  for  the 
space  of  thirty  years,  the  first  ten  of  which  they  were 
to  spend  in  learning  their  duties,  the  second  ten  in  per- 
forming them,  and  the  remaining  ten  in  teaching  and 
instructing  others.  Thus  the  whole  term  being  com- 
pleted, it  was  lawful  for  them  to  marry,  and,  leaving  the 
sacred  order,  to  choose  any  condition  of  life  that  pleased 
them ;  but  this  permission  few,  as  they  say,  made  use  of; 
and  in  cases  where  they  did  so,  it  was  observed  that  their 
change  was  not  a  happy  one,  but  accompanied  ever  after 
with  regret  and  melancholy ;  so  that  the  greater  number, 
from  religious  fears  and  scruples,  forbore,  and  continued 
to  old  age  and  death  in  the  strict  observance  of  a  single 
life. 

For  this  condition  he  compensated  by  great  privileges 
and  prerogatives ;  as  that  they  had  power  to  make  a  will 
in  the  lifetime  of  their  father ;  that  they  had  a  free  ad- 
ministration of  their  own  affairs  without  eruardian  or 
tutor,  which  was  the  privilege  of  women  who  were  the 
mothers  of  three  children ;  when  they  go  abroad,  they 
have  the  fasces  carried  before  them;  and  if  in  their 
walks  they  chance  to  meet  a  criminal  on  his  way  to  exe- 
cution, it  saves  his  life,  upon  oath  made  that  the  meeting 
was  an  accidental  one,  and  not  concerted  or  of  set  pur- 
pose. Any  one  who  presses  upon  the  chair  on  which 
they  are  carried,  is  put  to  death.  If  these  vestals  com- 
mit any  minor  fault,  they  are  punishable  by  the  high- 
priest  only,  who  scourges  the  offender,  sometimes  with  her 
clothes  off,  in  a  dark  place,  with  a  curtain  drawn  be- 
tween ;  but  she  that  has  broken  her  vow  is  buried  alive 


142  NUMA. 

near  the  gate  called  Collina,  where  a  little  mound  of 
earth  stands,  inside  the  city,  reaching  some  little  distance, 
called  in  Latin  agger ;  under  it  a  narrow  room  is  con- 
structed, to  which  a  descent  is  made  by  stairs;  here 
they  prepare  a  bed,  and  light  a  lamp,  and  leave  a  small 
quantity  of  victuals,  such  as  bread,  water,  a  pail  of  milk, 
and  some  oil ;  that  so  that  body  which  had  been  conse- 
crated and  devoted  to  the  most  sacred  service  of  religion 
might  not  be  said  to  perish  by  such  a  death  as  famine. 
The  culprit  herself  is  put  in  a  litter,  which  they  cover 
over,  and  tie  her  down  with  cords  on  it,  so  that  nothing 
she  utters  may  be  heard.  They  then  take  her  to  the 
forum;  all  people  silently  go  out  of  the  way  as  she 
passes,  and  such  as  follow  accompany  the  bier  with 
solemn  and  speechless  sorrow ;  and,  indeed,  there  is  not 
any  spectacle  more  appalling,  nor  any  day  observed  by 
the  city  with  greater  appearance  of  gloom  and  sadness. 
When  they  come  to  the  place  of  execution,  the  officers 
loose  the  cords,  and  then  the  high-priest,  lifting  his  hands 
to  heaven,  pronounces  certain  prayers  to  himself  before 
the  act;  then  he  brmgs  out  the  prisoner,  being  still 
covered,  and  placing  her  upon  the  steps  that  lead  down 
to  the  cell,  turns  away  his  face  with  the  rest  of  the 
priests ;  the  stairs  are  drawn  up  after  she  has  gone  down, 
and  a  quantity  of  earth  is  heaped  up  over  the  entrance 
to  the  cell,  so  as  to  prevent  it  from  being  distinguished 
from  the  rest  of  the  mound.  This  is  the  punishment  of 
those  who  break  their  vow  of  virginity. 

It  is  said,  also,  that  Numa  built  the  temple  of  Vesta, 
which  was  intended  for  a  repository  of  the  holy  fire,  of  a 
circular  form,  not  to  represent  the  figure  of  the  earth, 
as  if  that  were  the  same  as  Vesta,  but  that  of  the  general 
universe,  in  the  centre  of  which  the  Pythagoreans  place 
the  element  of  fire,  and  give  it  the  name  of  Vesta  and 


NTIMA.  143 

the  unit;  and  do  not  hold  that  the  earth  is  immovable, 
or  that  it  is  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  globe,  but  that  it 
keeps  a  circular  motion  about  the  seat  of  fire,  and  is  not 
in  the  number  of  the  primary  elements ;  in  this  agreeing 
with  the  opinion  of  Plato,  who,  they  say,  in  his  later  life, 
conceived  that  the  earth  held  a  lateral  position,  and  that 
the  central  and  sovereign  space  was  reserved  for  some 
nobler  body. 

There  was  yet  a  farther  use  of  the  priests,  and  that 
was  to  give  people  directions  in  the  national  usages  at 
funeral  rites.  Numa  taught  them  to  regard  these  offices, 
not  as  a  pollution,  but  as  a  duty  paid  to  the  gods  below, 
into  whose  hands  the  better  part  of  us  is  transmitted ; 
especially  they  were  to  worship  the  goddess  Libitina,  who 
presided  over  all  the  ceremonies  performed  at  burials; 
whether  they  meant  hereby  Proserpina,  or,  as  the  most 
learned  of  the  Romans  conceive,  Venus,  not  inaptly 
attributing  the  beginning  and  end  of  man's  life  to  the 
agency  of  one  and  the  same  deity.  Numa  also  prescribed 
rules  for  regulating  the  days  of  mourning,  according  to 
certain  times  and  ages.  As,  for  example,  a  child  of  three 
years  was  not  to  be  mourned  for  at  all ;  one  older,  up  to 
ten  years,  for  as  many  months  as  it  was  years  old ;  and 
the  longest  time  of  mourning  for  any  person  whatsoever 
was  not  to  exceed  the  term  of  ten  months;  which  was 
the  time  appointed  for  women  that  lost  their  husbands  to 
continue  in  widowhood.  If  any  married  again  before 
that  time,  by  the  laws  of  Numa  she  was  to  sacrifice  a  cow 
big  with  calf 

Numa,  also,  was  founder  of  several  other  orders  of 
priests,  two  of  which  I  shall  mention,  the  Salii  and  the 
Feciales,  which  are  among  the  clearest  proofs  of  the  de- 
voutness  and  sanctity  of  his  character.  These  Fecials, 
or   guardians   of  peace,  seem   to  have  had  their   name 


144  NUMA. 

from  their  office,*  which  was  to  put  a  stop  to  disputes  by 
conference  and  speech ;  for  it  was  not  allowable  to  take 
up  arms  until  they  had  declared  all  hopes  of  accommoda- 
tion to  be  at  an  end,  for  in  Greek,  too,  we  call  it  peace 
when  disputes  are  settled  by  words,  and  not  by  force. 
The  Romans  commonly  despatched  the  Fecials,  or  heralds, 
to  those  who  had  offered  them  injury,  requesting  satisfac- 
tion ;  and,  in  case  they  refused,  they  then  called  the  gods 
to  witness,  and,  with  imprecations  upon  themselves  and 
their  country  should  they  be  acting  unjustly,  so  declared 
war ;  against  their  will,  or  without  their  consent,  it  was 
lawful  neither  for  soldier  nor  king  to  take  up  arms ;  the 
war  was  begun  with  them,  and,  when  they  had  first  handed 
it  over  to  the  commander  as  a  just  quarrel,  then  his  busi- 
ness was  to  deliberate  of  the  manner  and  ways  to  carry 
it  on.  It  is  believed  that  the  slaughter  and  destruction 
which  the  Gauls  made  of  the  Romans  was  a  judgment  on 
the  city  for  neglect  of  this  religious  proceeding ;  for  that 
when  these  barbarians  besieged  the  Clusinians,  Fabius 
Ambustus  was  despatched  to  their  camp  to  negotiate 
peace  for  the  besieged  ;  and,  on  their  returning  a  rude 
refusal,  Fabius  imagined  that  his  office  of  ambassador  was 
at  an  end,  and,  rashly  engaging  on  the  side  of  the  Clu- 
sinians, challenged  the  bravest  of  the  enemy  to  a  single 
combat.  It  was  the  fortune  of  Fabius  to  kill  his  adver- 
sary, and  to  take  his  spoils ;  but  when  the  Gauls  discov- 
ered it,  they  sent  a  herald  to  Rome  to  complain  against 
him ;  since,  before  war  was  declared,  he  had,  against  the 
law  of  nations,  made  a  breach  of  the  peace.  The  matter 
being  debated  in  the  senate,  the  Fecials  were  of  opinion 


*  The  allusion  seems  to  be  to  the  made,  too,  in  the  words  that  follow, 

Greek  phemi,  to  saj,  with  which  it  to  a  derivation  of  eirene,  the  Greek 

is  possible  Fecialis  may  really  be  word   for    peace,    from    eirein,    to 

connected.     Reference,  perhaps,  is  speak. 


NUMA.  145 

tliat  Fabius  ought  to  be  consigned  into  the  hands  of  the 
Gauls ;  but  he,  being  forewarned  of  their  judgment,  fled 
to  the  people,  by  whose  protection  and  favor  he  escaped 
the  sentence.  On  this,  the  Gauls  marched  with  their 
army  to  Rome,  where,  having  taken  the  Capitol,  they 
sacked  the  city.  The  particulars  of  all  which  are  fully 
given  in  the  history  of  Camillus. 

The  origin  of  the  Salii  is  this.  In  the  eighth  year  of 
the  reign  of  Numa,  a  terrible  pestilence,  which  traversed 
all  Italy,  ravaged  likewise  the  city  of  Rome  ;  and  the  citi- 
zens being  in  distress  and  despondent,  a  brazen  target,  they 
say,  fell  from  heaven  into  the  hands  of  Numa,  who  gave 
them  this  marvellous  account  of  it :  that  Egeria  and  the 
Muses  had  assured  him  it  was  sent  from  heaven  for  the 
cure  and  safety  of  the  city,  and  that,  to  keep  it  secure, 
he  was  ordered  by  them  to  make  eleven  others,  so  like 
in  dimension  and  form  to  the  original  that  no  thief 
should  be  able  to  distinguish  the  true  from  the  counter- 
feit. He  farther  declared,  that  he  was  commanded  to 
consecrate  to  the  Muses  the  place,  and  the  fields  about  it, 
where  they  had  been  chiefly  wont  to  meet  with  him,  and 
that  the  spring  which  watered  the  field  should  be  hal- 
lowed for  the  use  of  the  vestal  virgins,  who  were  to 
wash  and  cleanse  the  penetralia  of  their  sanctuary  with 
those  holy  waters.  The  truth  of  all  which  was  speedily 
verified  by  the  cessation  of  the  pestilence.  Numa  dis- 
played the  target  to  the  artificers,  and  bade  them  show  their 
skill  in  making  others  like  it ;  all  despaired,  until  at 
length  one  Mamurius  Veturius,  an  excellent  workman, 
happily  hit  upon  it,  and  made  all  so  exactly  the  same 
that  Numa  himself  was  at  a  loss,  and  could  not  distin- 
guish. The  keeping  of  these  targets  was  committed  to 
the  charge  of  certain  priests,  called  Salii,  who  did  not 
receive  their  name,  as  some  tell  the  story,  from  Salius,  a 
dancing-master,  born  in  Samothrace,  or  at  Mantinea,  who 

VOL.   I.  10 


146  NUMA. 

taught  the  way  of  dancing  in  arms  ;  but  more  truly  from 
that  jumping  dance  which  the  Salii  themselves  use,  when 
in  the  month  of  March  they  carry  the  sacred  targets 
through  the  city ;  at  which  procession  they  are  habited  in 
short  frocks  of  purple,  girt  with  a  broad  belt  studded 
with  brass ;  on  their  heads  they  wear  a  brass  helmet,  and 
carry  in  their  hands  short  daggers,  which  they  clash  every 
now  and  then  against  the  targets.  But  the  chief  thing 
is  the  dance  itself  They  move  with  much  grace,  per- 
forming, in  quick  time  and  close  order,  various  intricate 
figures,  with  a  great  display  of  strength  and  agility.  The 
targets  were  called  Ancilia  from  their  form ;  for  they  are 
not  made  round,  nor  like  proper  targets,  of  a  complete 
circumference,  but  are  cut  out  into  a  wavy  line,  the  ends 
of  which  are  rounded  off  and  turned  in  at  the  thickest 
part  towards  each  other ;  so  that  their  shape  is  curvilinear, 
or,  in  Greek,  ancylon  ;  or  the  name  may  come  from  ancon, 
the  elbow,  on  which  they  are  carried.  Thus  Juba  writes, 
who  is  eager  to  make  it  Greek.  But  it  might  be,  for  that 
matter,  from  its  having  come  down  anecathen,  from  above ; 
or  from  its  akesis,  or  cure  of  diseases  ;  or  auchmon  li/sis, 
because  it  put  an  end  to  a  drought ;  or  from  its  anaschesis, 
or  relief  from  calamities,  which  is  the  origin  of  the  Athe- 
nian name  Anaces,  given  to  Castor  and  Pollux ;  if  we 
must,  that  is,  reduce  it  to  Greek.  The  reward  which  Ma- 
murius  received  for  his  art  was  to  be  mentioned  and 
commemorated  in  the  verses  which  the  Salii  sang,  as  they 
danced  in  their  arms  through  the  city  ;  though  some  will 
have  it  that  they  do  not  say  Veturium  Mamurium,  but 
Veterem  Memoriam,  ancient  remembrance. 

After  Numa  had  in  this  manner  instituted  these  several 
orders  of  priests,  he  erected,  near  the  temple  of  Vesta, 
what  is  called  to  this  day  Regia,  or  king's  house,  where  he 
spent  the  most  part  of  his  time,  performing  divine  service, 
instructing  the  priests,  or  conversing  with  them  on  sacred 


NUMA.  147 

subjects.  He  had  another  house  upon  the  Mount  Quiri- 
nahs,  the  site  of  which  the}'  show  to  this  day.  In  all 
public  processions  and  solemn  prayers,  criers  were  sent 
before  to  give  notice  to  the  people  that  they  should  for- 
bear their  work,  and  rest.  They  say  that  the  Pythago- 
reans did  not  allow  people  to  worship  and  pray  to  their 
gods  by  the  way,  but  would  have  them  go  out  from  their 
houses  direct,  with  their  minds  set  upon  the  duty,  and  so 
Numa,  in  like  manner,  wished  that  his  citizens  should 
neither  see  nor  hear  any  religious  service  in  a  perfunc- 
tory and  inattentive  manner,  but,  laying  aside  all  other 
occupations,  should  apply  their  minds  to  religion  as  to  a 
most  serious  business;  and  that  the  streets  should  be  free 
from  all  noises  and  cries  that  accompany  manual  labor, 
and  clear  for  the  sacred  solemnity.  Some  traces  of  this 
custom  remain  at  Rome  to  this  day,  for,  when  the  consul 
begins  to  take  auspices  or  do  sacrifice,  they  call  out  to 
the  people,  Hoc  age,  Attend  to  this,  whereby  the  auditors 
then  present  are  admonished  to  compose  and  recollect 
themselves.  Many  other  of  his  precepts  resemble  those 
of  the  Pythagoreans.  The  Pj^thagoreans  said,  for  exam- 
ple, "  Thou  shalt  not  make  a  peck-measure  thy  seat  to  sit 
on.  Thou  shalt  not  stir  the  lire  with  a  sword.  When 
thou  goest  out  upon  a  journey,  look  not  behind  thee. 
When  thou  sacrificest  to  the  celestial  gods,  let  it  be  with 
an  odd  number,  and  when  to  the  terrestrial,  with  even." 
The  significance  of  each  of  which  precepts  they  would 
not  commonly  disclose.  So  some  of  Numa's  traditions 
have  no  obvious  meaning.  "  Thou  shalt  not  make  liba- 
tion to  the  gods  of  wine  from  an  unpruned  vine.  No 
sacrifices  shall  be  performed  without  meal.  Turn  round 
to  pay  adoration  to  the  gods ;  sit  after  you  have  worship- 
ped." The  first  two  directions  seem  to  denote  the  culti- 
vation and  subduing  of  the  earth  as  a  part  of  religion ; 
and  as  to  the  turning  which  the  worshippers  are  to  use  in 


148  NUMA. 

divine  adoration,  it  is  said  to  represent  the  rotatory  mo- 
tion of  the  world.  But,  in  my  opinion,  the  meaning 
rather  is,  that  the  worshipper,  since  the  temples  front  the 
east,  enters  with  his  back  to  the  rising  sun  ;  there,  faces 
round  to  the  east,  and  so  turns  back  to  the  god  of  the 
temple,  b}^  this  circular  movement  referring  the  fulfil- 
ment of  his  prayer  to  both  divinities.  Unless,  indeed, 
this  change  of  posture  may  have  a  mystical  meaning,  like 
the  Egyptian  wheels,  and  signify  to  us  the  instability  of 
human  fortune,  and  that,  in  whatever  way  God  changes 
and  turns  our  lot  and  condition,  we  should  rest  contented, 
and  accept  it  as  right  and  fitting.  They  say.  also,  that 
the  sitting  after  worship  was  to  be  by  way  of  omen  of 
their  petitions  being  granted,  and  the  blessing  they  asked 
assured  to  them.  Again,  as  different  courses  of  actions 
are  divided  by  intervals  of  rest,  they  might  seat  them- 
selves after  the  completion  of  what  they  had  done,  to 
seek  favor  of  the  gods  for  beginning  something  else. 
And  this  would  very  well  suit  with  what  we  had  before ; 
the  lawgiver  wants  to  habituate  us  to  make  our  petitions 
to  the  deity  not  by  the  way,  and  as  it  were,  in  a  hurry, 
when  we  have  other  things  to  do,  but  with  time  and 
leisure  to  attend  to  it.  By  such  discipline  and  schooling 
in  religion,  the  city  passed  insensibly  into  such  a  submis- 
siveness  of  temper,  and  stood  in  such  awe  and  reverence 
of  the  virtue  of  Numa,  that  they  received,  with  an  un- 
doubted assurance,  whatever  he  delivered,  though  never 
so  fabulous,  and  thought  nothing  incredible  or  impossible 
from  him. 

There  goes  a  story  that  he  once  invited  a  great  num- 
ber of  citizens  to  an  entertainment,  at  which  the  dishes 
in  which  the  meat  was  served  were  very  homely  and 
plain,  and  the  repast  itself  poor  and  ordinary  fare  ;  the 
guests  seated,  he  began  to  tell  them  that  the  goddess  that 
consulted  with  him  was  then  at  that  time  come  to  him : 


NUMA.  149 

when  on  a  sudden  the  room  was  famished  with  all 
sorts  of  costly  drinking-vessels,  and  the  tables  loaded 
with  rich  meats,  and  a  most  sumptuous  entertainment. 
But  the  dialogue  which  is  reported  to  have  passed  be- 
tween him  and  Jupiter  surpasses  all  the  fabulous  legends 
that  were  ever  invented.  They  say  that  before  Mount 
Aventine  was  inhabited  or  enclosed  within  the  walls  of 
the  city,  two  demi-gods,  Picus  and  Faunus,  frequented  the 
springs  and  thick  shades  of  that  place ;  which  might  be 
two  satyrs,  or  Pans,  except  that  they  went  about  Italy 
playing  the  same  sorts  of  tricks,  by  skill  in  drugs  and 
magic,  as  are  ascribed  by  the  Greeks  to  the  Dactyli  of 
Mount  Ida.  Numa  contrived  one  day  to  surprise  these 
demi-gods,  by  mixing  wine  and  honey  in  the  waters  of 
the  spring  of  which  they  usually  drank.  On  finding 
themselves  ensnared,  they  changed  themselves  into  vari- 
ous shapes,  dropping  their  own  form  and  assuming  every 
kind  of  unusual  and  hideous  appearance ;  but  when  they 
saw  they  were  safely  entrapped,  and  in  no  possibility  of 
getting  free,  they  revealed  to  him  many  secrets  and  fu- 
ture events ;  and  particularly  a  charm  for  thunder  and 
lightning,  still  in  use,  performed  with  onions  and  hair  and 
pilchards.  Some  say  they  did  not  tell  him  the  charm, 
but  by  their  magic  brought  down  Jupiter  out  of  heaven ; 
and  that  he  then,  in  an  angry  manner  answering  the  in- 
quiries, told  Numa,  that,  if  he  would  charm  the  thunder 
and  lightning,  he  must  do  it  with  heads.  "  How,"  said 
Numa, "  with  the  heads  of  onions  ?"  "  No,"  replied  Jupiter, 
"  of  men."  But  Numa,  willing  to  elude  the  cruelty  of 
this  receipt,  turned  it  another  way,  saying,  "  Your  mean- 
ing is,  the  hairs  of  men's  heads."     "  No,"  replied  Jupiter, 

"with  living" "pilchards,"  said  Numa,  interrupting 

him.  These  answers  he  had  learnt  from  Egeria.  Jupiter 
returned  again  to  heaven,  pacified  and  ileos,  or  propitious. 


150  NUMA. 

The  place  was,  in  remembrance  of  him,  called  Ilicium,*' 
from  this  Greek  word;  and  the  spell  in  this  manner 
effected. 

These  stories,  laughable  as  they  are,  show  us  the  feel- 
ings which  people  then,  by  force  of  habit,  entertained 
towards  the  deity.  And  Numa's  own  thoughts  are  said 
to  have  been  fixed  to  that  degree  on  divine  objects, 
that  he  once,  when  a  message  was  brought  to  him  that 
"  Enemies  are  approaching,"  answered  with  a  smile,  "  And 
I  am  sacrificing."  It  was  he,  also,  that  built  the  temples 
of  Faith  and  Terminus,  and  taught  the  Romans  that  the 
name  of  Faith  was  the  most  solemn  oath  that  they  could 
swear.  They  still  use  it;  and  to  the  god  Terminus,  or 
Boundary,  they  offer  to  this  day  both  public  and  private 
sacrifices,  upon  the  borders  and  stone-marks  of  their  land ; 
living  victims  now,  though  anciently  those  sacrifices 
were  solemnized  without  blood ;  for  Numa  reasoned  that 
the  god  of  boundaries,  who  watched  over  peace,  and 
testified  to  fair  dealing,  should  have  no  concern  with 
blood.  It  is  very  clear  that  it  was  this  king  who  first 
prescribed  bounds  to  the  territory  of  Rome ;  for  Romu- 
lus would  but  have  openly  betrayed  how  much  he 
had  encroached  on  his  neighbors'  lands,  had  he  ever  set 
limits  to  his  own ;  for  boundaries  are,  indeed,  a  defence 
to  those  who  choose  to  observe  them,  but  are  only  a 
testimony  against  the  dishonesty  of  those  who  break 
through  them.  The  truth  is,  the  portion  of  lands  which 
the  Romans  possessed  at  the  beginning  was  very  narrow, 
until  Romulus  enlarged  them  by  war ;  all  whose  acqui- 


*  Neither   Ilicium  nor  Elicium  Jupiter,  unde  minores  Nunc  quo- 

was,  so  far  as  appears,  the  name  que  te   celebrant,  Eliciumque  vo- 

of  the  place ;  but  Elicius  the  title  cant,"  says   Ovid  in  the   Fasti,  iii. 

of    Jupiter,   whose    presence   was  327,   where    he   gives   the   whole 

there  elicited.     "  Eliciunt  ccelo  te,  story. 


NUJVIA.  151 

sitions  Numa  now  divided  amongst  the  indigent  common- 
alty, wishing  to  do  away  with  that  extreme  want  which 
is  a  compulsion  to  dishonesty,  and,  by  turning  the  people 
to  husbandry,  to  bring  them,  as  well  as  their  lands,  into 
better  order.  For  there  is  no  employment  that  gives  so 
keen  and  quick  a  relish  for  peace  as  husbandry  and  a 
country  life,  which  leave  in  men  all  that  kind  of  cour- 
age that  makes  them  ready  to  fight  in  defence  of  their 
own,  while  it  destroys  the  license  that  breaks  out  into  acts 
of  injustice  and  rapacity.  Numa,  therefore,  hoping  agri- 
culture would  be  a  sort  of  charm  to  captivate  the  aflec- 
tions  of  his  people  to  peace,  and  viewing  it  rather  as  a 
means  to  moral  than  to  economical  profit,  divided  all  the 
lands  into  several  parcels,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
pagus,  or  parish,  and  over  every  one  of  them  he  ordained 
chief  overseers ;  and,  taking  a  delight  sometimes  to  inspect 
his  colonies  in  person,  he  formed  his  judgment  of  every 
man's  habits  by  the  results;  of  which  being  witness  himself, 
he  preferred  those  to  honors  and  employments  who  had 
done  well,  and  by  rebukes  and  reproaches  incited  the 
indolent  and  careless  to  improvement.  But  of  all  his 
measures  the  most  commended  was  his  distribution  of 
the  people  by  their  trades  into  companies  or  guilds ;  for 
as  the  city  consisted,  or  rather  did  not  consist  of,  but  was 
divided  into,  two  different  tribes,  the  diversity  between 
which  could  not  be  effaced  and  in  the  mean  time  pre- 
vented all  unity  and  caused  perpetual  tumult  and  ill- 
blood,  reflecting  how  hard  substances  that  do  not  readily 
mix  when  in  the  lump  may,  by  being  beaten  into  pow- 
der, in  that  minute  form  be  combined,  he  resolved  to 
divide  the  whole  population  into  a  number  of  small  divi- 
sions, and  thus  hoped,  by  introducing  other  distinctions,  to 
obliterate  the  original  and  great  distinction,  which  would 
be  lost  among  the  smaller.  So,  distinguishing  the  whole 
people  by  the  several  arts  and  trades,  he  formed  the  com- 


152  NUMA. 

panics  of  musicians,  goldsmiths,  carpenters,  dyers,  shoe- 
makers, skinners,  braziers,  and  potters ;  and  all  other 
handicraftsmen  he  composed  and  reduced  into  a  single 
company,  appointing  every  one  their  proper  courts,  coun- 
cils, and  religious  observances.  In  this  manner  all  fac- 
tious distinctions  began,  for  the  first  time,  to  pass  out  of 
use,  no  person  any  longer  being  either  thought  of  or 
spoken  of  under  the  notion  of  a  Sabine  or  a  Roman,  a 
Romulian  or  a  Tatian;  and  the  new  division  became  a 
source  of  general  harmony  and  intermixture. 

He  is  also  much  to  be  commended  for  the  repeal,  or 
rather  amendment,  of  that  law  which  gives  power  to 
fathers  to  sell  their  children ;  he  exempted  such  as  were 
married,  conditionally  that  it  had  been  with  the  liking 
and  consent  of  their  parents ;  for  it  seemed  a  hard  thing 
that  a  woman  who  had  given  herself  in  marriage  to  a 
man  whom  she  judged  free  should  afterwards  find  herself 
living  with  a  slave. 

He  attempted,  also,  the  formation  of  a  calendar,  not 
with  absolute  exactness,  yet  not  without  some  scientific 
knowledge.  During  the  reign  of  Romulus,  they  had  let 
their  months  run  on  without  any  certain  or  equal  term ; 
some  of  them  contained  twenty  days,  others  thirty-five, 
others  more ;  they  had  no  sort  of  knowledge  of  the 
inequality  in  the  motions  of  the  sun  and  moon ;  they 
only  kept  to  the  one  rule  that  the  whole  course  of  the 
year  contained  three  hundred  and  sixty  days.  Numa, 
calculating  the  difference  between  the  lunar  and  the  solar 
year  at  eleven  days,  for  that  the  moon  completed  her 
anniversary  course  in  three  hundred  and  fifty-four  days, 
and  the  sun  in  three  hundred  and  sixty-five,  to  remedy 
this  incongruity  doubled  the  eleven  days,  and  every  other 
year  added  an  intercalary  month,  to  follow  February,  con- 
sisting of  twenty-two  days,  and  called  by  the  Romans  the 
month  Mercedinus.     This  amendment,  however,  itself,  in 


NUMA.  153 

com*se  of  time,  came  to  need  other  amendments.  He  also 
altered  the  order  of  the  months ;  for  March,  which  was 
reckoned  the  first,  he  put  into  the  third  place ;  and  January, 
which  was  the  eleventh,  he  made  the  first ;  and  February, 
which  was  the  twelfth  and  last,  the  second.  Many  will 
have  it,  that  it  was  Numa,  also,  who  added  the  two  months 
of  January  and  February  ;  for  in  the  beginning  the3^  had 
had  a  year  of  ten  months ;  as  there  are  barbarians  who 
count  only  three ;  the  Arcadians,  in  Greece,  had  but  four ; 
the  Acarnanians,  six.  The  Egyptian  year  at  first,  they  say, 
was  of  one  month ;  afterwards,  of  four ;  and  so,  though 
they  live  in  the  newest  of  all  countries,  they  have  the 
credit  of  being  a  more  ancient  nation  than  any,  and 
reckon,  in  their  genealogies,  a  prodigious  number  of  years, 
counting  months,  that  is,  as  years.  That  the  Romans,  at 
first,  comprehended  the  whole  year  within  ten,  and  not 
twelve  months,  plainly  appears  by  the  name  of  the  last, 
December,  meaning  the  tenth  month ;  and  that  March 
was  the  first  is  likewise  evident,  for  the  fifth  month  after 
it  was  called  Quintilis,  and  the  sixth  Sextilis,  and  so  the 
rest ;  whereas,  if  January  and  February  had,  in  this  ac- 
count, preceded  March,  Quintilis  would  have  been  fifth  in 
name  and  seventh  in  reckoning.  It  was  also  natural,  that 
March,  dedicated  to  Mars,  should  be  Romulus's  first,  and 
April,  named  from  Yenus,  or  Aphrodite,  his  second  month ; 
in  it  they  sacrifice  to  Venus,  and  the  women  bathe  on  the 
calends,  or  first  day  of  it,  with  myrtle  garlands  on  their 
heads.  But  others,  because  of  its  beings  and  notph,  will 
not  allow  of  the  derivation  of  this  word  from  Aphrodite, 
but  say  it  is  called  April  from  aperio,  Latin  for  to  open, 
because  that  this  month  is  high  spring,  and  opens  and  dis- 
closes the  buds  and  flowers.  The  next  is  called  May,  from 
Maia,  the  mother  of  Mercury,  to  whom  it  is  sacred ;  then 
June  follows,  so  called  from  Juno ;  some,  however,  derive 
them  from  the  two  ages,  old   and  young,  mqj'ores  being 


154  NUMA. 

their  name  for  older,  and  jmiiorcs  for  younger  men.    To  the 
other  months  they  gave  denominations  according  to  their 
order ;  so  the  fifth  was  called  Quintilis,  Sextilis  the  sixth, 
and  the  rest,  September,  October,  November,  and  Decem- 
ber.    Afterwards  Quintilis  received  the  name  of  Julius, 
from    Ccesar   who    defeated    Pompey;    as   also    Sextilis 
that  of  Augustus,  from  the  second  Caesar,  who  had  that 
title.     Domitian,  also,  in  imitation,  gave  the  two  other 
following   months  his   own   names,  of  Germanicus   and 
Domitianus ;  but,  on  his  being  slain,  they  recovered  their 
ancient  denominations  of  September  and  October.     The 
two  last  are  the  only  ones  that  have  kept  their  names 
throughout    without    any   alteration.      Of    the    months 
which  were  added  or  transposed  in  their  order  by  Numa, 
February  comes  from  febriia ;  and  is  as  much  as  Purifica- 
tion month ;  in  it  they  make  offerings  to  the  dead,  and  cele- 
brate the  Lupercalia,  which,  in  most  points,  resembles  a 
purification.     January  was  so  called  from  Janus,  and  pre- 
cedence given  to  it  by  Numa  before  March,  which  was 
dedicated  to  the  god  Mars;  because,  as  I  conceive,  he 
wished  to  take  every  opportunity  of  intimating  that  the 
arts  and  studies  of  peace  are  to  be  preferred  before  those 
of  war.     For  this  Janus,  whether  in  remote  antiquity  he 
were  a  demi-god  or  a  king,  was  certainly  a  great  lover 
of  civil  and  social  unity,  and  one  who  reclaimed  men 
from  brutal  and  savage  living;    for  which  reason  they 
figure  him  with  two  faces,  to  represent  the  two  states 
and   conditions   out   of  the   one   of  which   he   brought 
mankind,  to  lead  them  into  the  other.     His  temple  at 
Rome  has  two  gates,  which  they  call  the  gates  of  war, 
because  they  stand  open  in  the  time  of  war,  and  shut  in 
the  times  of  peace ;  of  which  latter  there  was  very  seldom 
an  example,  for,  as  the  Roman  empire  was  enlarged  and 
extended,  it  was  so  encompassed  with  barbarous  nations 
and  enemies  to  be  resisted,  that  it  was  seldom  or  never  at 


Augusttis  Caesar. 

From  a  sculpture  found  at  Prima  Porta  in  1863.     Now 
the  Vatican  Museum,  Rome. 


i.^ylyAr./.-.r.f/'y: 


NUMA.  155 

peace.  Only  in  the  time  of  Augustus  Ca?sar,  after  he 
had  overcome  Antony,  this  temple  was  shut ;  as  hkewise 
once  before,  when  Marcus  AtiHus  and  Titus  Manlius  * 
were  consuls ;  but  then  it  was  not  long  before,  wars 
breaking  out,  the  gates  were  again  opened.  But,  during 
the  reign  of  Numa,  those  gates  were  never  seen  open  a 
single  day,  but  continued  constantly  shut  for  a  space  of 
forty-three  years  together ;  such  an  entire  and  universal 
cessation  of  war  existed.  For  not  only  had  the  people 
of  Eome  itself  been  softened  and  charmed  into  a  peaceful 
temper  by  the  just  and  mild  rule  of  a  pacific  prince,  but 
even  the  neighboring  cities,  as  if  some  salubrious  and 
gentle  air  had  blown  from  Rome  upon  them,  began  to 
experience  a  change  of  feeling,  and  partook  in  the  gene- 
ral longing  for  the  sweets  of  peace  and  order,  and  for 
life  employed  in  the  quiet  tillage  of  soil,  bringing  up  of 
children,  and  worship  of  the  gods.  Festival  days  and 
sports,  and  the  secure  and  peaceful  interchange  of  friendly 
visits  and  hospitalities  prevailed  all  through  the  whole  of 
Italy.  The  love  of  virtue  and  justice  flowed  from  Numa'.s 
wisdom  as  from  a  fountain,  and  the  serenity  of  his  spirit 
difPiised  itself,  like  a  calm,  on  all  sides  ;  so  that  the  hyper- 
boles of  poets  were  flat  and  tame  to  express  what  then 
existed  j  as  that 

Over  the  iron  shield  the  spiders  hang  their  threads, 

or  that 

Rust  eats  the  pointed  spear  and  double-edged  sword. 
No  more  is  heard  the  trumpet's  brazen  roar, 
Sweet  sleep  is  banished  from  our  eyes  no  more. 

For,  during  the  whole  reign  of  Numa,  there  was  neither 
war,  nor  sedition,  nor  innovation  in  the  state,  nor  any 

*  At  the  close  of  the  first  punic  war,  519  A.  U.  C. 


156  NUMA. 

envy  or  ill-will  to  his  person,  nor  plot  or  conspiracy  from 
views  of  ambition.  Either  fear  of  the  gods  that  were 
thought  to  watch  over  him,  or  reverence  for  his  virtue,  or 
a  divine  felicity  of  fortune  that  in  his  days  preserved 
human  innocence,  made  his  reign,  by  whatever  means, 
a  living  example  and  verification  of  that  saying  which 
Plato,  long  afterwards,  ventured  to  pronounce,  that  the 
sole  and  only  hope  of  respite  or  remedy  for  human  evils 
was  in  some  happy  conjunction  of  events,  which  should 
unite  in  a  single  person  the  power  of  a  king  and  the  wis- 
dom of  a  philosopher,  so  as  to  elevate  virtue  to  control 
and  mastery  over  vice.  The  wise  man  is  blessed  in  him- 
self, and  blessed  also  are  the  auditors  who  can  hear  and 
receive  those  words  which  flow  from  his  mouth;  and 
perhaps,  too,  there  is  no  need  of  compulsion  or  menaces  to 
affect  the  multitude,  for  the  mere  sight  itself  of  a  shining 
and  conspicuous  example  of  virtue  in  the  life  of  their 
prince  will  bring  them  spontaneously  to  virtue,  and  to  a 
conformity  with  that  blameless  and  blessed  life  of  good 
will  and  mutual  concord,  supported  by  temperance  and 
justice,  which  is  the  highest  benefit  that  human  means 
can  confer ;  and  he  is  the  truest  ruler  who  can  best  intro- 
duce it  into  the  hearts  and  practice  of  his  subjects.  It  is 
the  praise  of  Numa  that  no  one  seems  ever  to  have  dis- 
cerned this  so  clearly  as  he. 

As  to  his  children  and  wives,  there  is  a  diversity  of 
reports  by  several  authors;  some  will  have  it  that  he 
never  had  any  other  wife  than  Tatia,  nor  more  children 
than  one  daughter  called  Pompilia ;  others  will  have  it 
that  he  left  also  four  sons,  namely,  Pompo,  Pinus,  Calpus, 
and  Mamercus,  every  one  of  whom  had  issue,  and 
from  them  descended  the  noble  and  illustrious  families 
of  Pomponii,  Pinarii,  Calpurnii,  and  Mamerci,  which  for 
this  reason  took  also  the  surname  of  Rex,  or  King.  But 
there  is  a  third  set  of  writers  who  say  that  these  pedi- 


NUIVLA.  157 

grees  are  but  a  piece  of  flattery  used  by  writers,  who,  to 
gain  favor  with  these  great  families,  made  them  fictitious 
genealogies  from  the  lineage  of  Numa ;  and  that  Pora- 
pilia  was  not  the  daughter  of  Tatia,  but  Lucretia,  another 
wife  whom  he  married  after  he  came  to  his  kingdom ; 
however,  all  of  them  agree  in  opinion  that  she  was  mar- 
ried to  the  son  of  that  Marcius  who  persuaded  him  to 
accept  the  government,  and  accompanied  him  to  Rome, 
where,  as  a  mark  of  honor,  he  was  chosen  into  the  sen- 
ate, and,  after  the  death  of  Numa,  standing  in  competi- 
tion with  Tullus  Hostilius  for  the  kingdom,  and  being 
disappointed  of  the  election,  in  discontent  killed  himself; 
his  son  Marcius,  however,  who  had  married  Pompilia,  con- 
tinuing at  Rome,  was  the  father  of  Ancus  Marcius,  who 
succeeded  Tullus  Hostilius  in  the  kingdom,  and  was  but 
five  years  of  age  when  Numa  died. 

Numa  lived  something  above  eighty  years,  and  then, 
as  Piso  writes,  was  not  taken  out  of  the  world  by  a  sud- 
den or  acute  disease,  but  died  of  old  age  and  by  a  gradual 
and  gentle  decline.  At  his  funeral  all  the  glories  of  his 
life  were  consummated,  when  all  the  neighboring  states 
in  alliance  and  amity  with  Rome  met  to  honor  and  grace 
the  rites  of  his  interment  with  garlands  and  public 
presents;  the  senators  carried  the  bier  on  which  his 
corpse  was  laid,  and  the  priests  followed  and  accompanied 
the  solemn  procession ;  while  a  general  crowd,  in  which 
women  and  children  took  part,  followed  with  such  cries 
and  weeping  as  if  they  had  bewailed  the  death  and  loss 
of  some  most  dear  relation  taken  away  in  the  flower  of 
age,  and  not  of  an  old  and  worn-out  king.  It  is  said  that 
his  body,  by  his  particular  command,  was  not  burnt,  but 
that  they  made,  in  conformity  with  his  order,  two  stone 
coffins,  and  buried  both  under  the  hill  Janiculum,  in  one 
of  which  his  body  was  laid,  and  in  the  other  his  sacred 
books,  which,  as  the  Greek  legislators  their  tables,  he  had 


168  NUIVIA. 

written  out  for  himself,  but  had  so  long  inculcated  the 
contents  of  them,  whilst  he  lived,  into  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  priests,  that  their  understandings  became 
fully  possessed  with  the  whole  spirit  and  purpose  of 
them ;  and  he,  therefore,  bade  that  they  should  be  buried 
with  his  body,  as  though  such  holy  precepts  could  not 
without  irreverence  be  left  to  circulate  in  mere  lifeless 
writings.  For  this  very  reason,  they  say,  the  Pythago- 
reans bade  that  their  precepts  should  not  be  committed  to 
paper,  but  rather  preserved  in  the  hving  memories  of 
those  who  were  worthy  to  receive  them ;  and  when  some 
of  their  out-of-the-way  and  abstruse  geometrical  pro- 
cesses had  been  divulged  to  an  unworthy  person,  they 
said  the  gods  threatened  to  punish  this  wickedness  and 
profanity  by  a  signal  and  wide-spreading  calamity.  With 
these  several  instances,  concurring  to  show  a  similarity  in 
the  lives  of  Numa  and  Pythagoras,  we  may  easily  pardon 
those  who  seek  to  establish  the  fact  of  a  real  acquaintance 
between  them. 

Valerius  Antias  writes  that  the  books  which  were 
buried  in  the  aforesaid  chest  or  coffin  of  stone  were 
twelve  volumes  of  holy  writ  and  twelve  others  of  Greek 
philosophy,  and  that  about  four  hundred  years  afterwards, 
when  P.  Cornelius  and  M.  Baebius  were  consuls,  in  a  time 
of  heavy  rains,  a  violent  torrent  washed  away  the  earth, 
and  dislodged  the  chests  of  stone ;  and,  their  covers  fall- 
ing off.  one  of  them  was  found  wholly  empty,  without 
the  least  relic  of  any  human  body ;  in  the  other  were 
the  books  before  mentioned,  which  the  praetor  Petilius 
having  read  and  perused,  made  oath  in  the  senate,  that, 
in  his  opinion,  it  was  not  fit  for  their  contents  to  be  made 
public  to  the  people;  whereupon  the  volumes  were  all 
carried  to  the  Comitium,  and  there  burnt. 

It  is  the  fortune  of  all  good  men  that  their  virtue  rises 
in  glory  after  their  deaths,  and  that  the  envy  which  evil 


NXBIA.  159 

men  conceive  against  them  never  outlives  them  long ; 
some  have  the  happiness  even  to  see  it  die  before  them ; 
but  in  Numa's  case,  also,  the  fortunes  of  the  succeeding 
kings  served  as  foils  to  set  off  the  brightness  of  his  repu- 
tation. For  after  him  there  were  five  kings,  the  last  of 
whom  ended  his  old  age  in  banishment,  being  deposed 
from  his  crown ;  of  the  other  four,  three  were  assassina- 
ted and  murdered  by  treason ;  the  other,  who  was  Tullus 
Hostilius,  that  immediately  succeeded  Numa,  derided  his 
virtues,  and  especially  his  devotion  to  religious  worship, 
as  a  cowardly  and  mean-spirited  occupation,  and  diverted 
the  minds  of  the  people  to  war ;  but  was  checked  in  these 
youthful  insolences,  and  was  himself  driven  by  an  acute 
and  tormenting  disease  into  superstitions  wholly  different 
from  Numa's  piety,  and  left  others  also  to  participate  in 
these  terrors  when  he  died  by  the  stroke  of  a  thunder- 
bolt. 


COMPARISON  OF  NUMA  WITH  LYCURGUS. 


Having  thus  finished  the  lives  of  Lycurgus  and  Numa, 
we  shall  now,  though  the  work  be  difficult,  put  together 
their  points  of  difference  as  they  lie  here  before  our 
view.  Their  points  of  likeness  are  obvious ;  their  mode- 
ration, their  religion,  their  capacity  of  government  and 
discipline,  their  both  deriving  their  laws  and  constitu- 
tions from  the  gods.  Yet  in  their  common  glories  there 
are  circumstances  of  diversity  ;  for,  first,  Numa  accepted 
and  Lycurgus  resigned  a  kingdom ;  Numa  received  with- 
out desiring  it,  Lycurgus  had  it  and  gave  it  up ;  the  one 
from  a  private  j)erson  and  a  stranger  was  raised  by  others 
to  be  their  king,  the  other  from  the  condition  of  a  prince 
voluntarily  descended  to  the  state  of  privacy.  It  was 
glorious  to  acquire  a  throne  by  justice,  yet  more  glorious 
to  prefer  justice  before  a  throne  ;  the  same  virtue  which 
made  the  one  appear  worthy  of  regal  power  exalted  the 
other  to  the  disregard  of  it.  Lastly,  as  musicians  tune 
their  harps,  so  the  one  let  down  the  high-flown  spirits  of 
the  people  at  Rome  to  a  lower  key,  as  the  other  screwed 
them  up  at  Sparta  to  a  higher  note,  when  they  were  sunken 
low  by  dissoluteness  and  riot.  The  harder  task  was  that  of 
Lycurgus ;  for  it  was  not  so  much  his  business  to  persuade 
his  citizens  to  put  off  their  armor  or  ungird  their  swords, 
as  to  cast  away  their  gold  or  silver,  and  abandon  costly 
furnitme  and  rich  tables  ;  nor  was  it  necessary  to  preach 
to  them,  that,  laying  aside  their  arms,  they  should  ob- 
serve the  festivals,  and  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  but  rather, 

(160) 


NUMA   AND   LYCURGUS.  161 

that,  giving  up  feasting  and  drinking,  they  should  employ 
their  time  in  laborious  and  martial  exercises ;  so  that 
while  the  one  effected  all  by  persuasions  and  his  people's 
love  for  him,  the  other,  with  danger  and  hazard  of  his 
person,  scarcely  in  the  end  succeeded.  Numa's  muse  was 
a  gentle  and  loving  inspiration,  fitting  him  well  to  turn 
and  soothe  his  people  into  peace  and  justice  out  of  their 
violent  and  fiery  tempers ;  whereas,  if  we  must  admit  the 
treatment  of  the  Helots  to  be  a  part  of  Lycurgus's  legis- 
lation, a  most  cruel  and  iniquitous  proceeding,  we  must 
own  that  Numa  was  by  a  great  deal  the  more  humane 
and  Greek-like  legislator,  granting  even  to  actual  slaves 
a  license  to  sit  at  meat  with  their  rnasters  at  the  feast  of 
Saturn,  that  they,  also,  might  have  some  taste  and  relish 
of  the  sweets  of  liberty.  For  this  custom,  too,  is  ascribed 
to  Numa,  whose  wish  was,  they  conceive,  to  give  a  place 
in  the  enjoyment  of  the  yearly  fruits  of  the  soil  to  those 
who  had  helped  to  produce  them.  Others  will  have  it 
to  be  in  remembrance  of  the  age  of  Saturn,  when  there 
was  no  distinction  between  master  and  slave,  but  all  lived 
as  brothers  and  as  equals  in  a  condition  of  equality. 

In  general,  it  seems  that  both  aimed  at  the  same  design 
and  intent,  which  was  to  bring  their  people  to  modera- 
tion and  frugality ;  but,  of  other  virtues,  the  one  set 
his  affection  most  on  fortitude,  and  the  other  on  justice  ; 
unless  we  will  attribute  their  different  ways  to  the  dif- 
ferent habits  and  temperaments  which  they  had  to  work 
upon  by  their  enactments ;  for  Numa  did  not  out  of  cow- 
ardice or  fear  affect  peace,  hut  because  he  would  not  be 
guilty  of  injustice ;  nor  did  Lycurgus  promote  a  spirit  of 
war  in  his  people  that  they  might  do  injustice  to  others, 
but  that  they  might  protect  themselves  by  it. 

In  bringing  the  habits  they  formed  in  their  people  to 
a  just  and  happy  mean,  mitigating  them  where  they  ex- 

VOL.  I.  11 


162  NUMA  AND   LYCURGUS. 

ceeded,  and  strengthening  them  where  they  were  defi- 
cient, both  were  compelled  to  make  great  innovations. 
The  frame  of  government  which  Numa  formed  was  demo- 
cratic and  popular  to  the  last  extreme,  goldsmiths  and 
flute-players  and  shoemakers  constituting  his  promiscuous, 
many-colored  commonalty.  Lycurgus  was  rigid  and  aristo- 
cratical,  banishing  all  the  base  and  mechanic  arts  to  the 
company  of  servants  and  strangers,  and  allowing  the 
true  citizens  no  implements  but  the  spear  and  shield, 
the  trade  of  war  only,  and  the  service  of  Mars,  and  no 
other  knowledge  or  study  but  that  of  obedience  to  their 
commanding  officers,  and  victory  over  their  enemies. 
Every  sort  of  money-making  was  forbid  them  as  freemen ; 
and  to  make  them  thoroughly  so  and  to  keep  them  so 
through  their  whole  lives,  every  conceivable  concern 
with  money  was  handed  over,  with  the  cooking  and  the 
waiting  at  table,  to  slaves  and  helots.  But  Numa  made 
none  of  these  distinctions;  he  only  suppressed  military 
rapacity,  allowing  free  scope  to  every  other  means  of 
obtaining  wealth ;  nor  did  he  endeavor  to  do  away  with 
inequality  in  this  respect,  but  permitted  riches  to  be 
amassed  to  any  extent,  and  paid  no  attention  to  the  gra- 
dual and  continual  augmentation  and  influx  of  poverty ; 
which  it  was  his  business  at  the  outset,  whilst  there 
was  as  yet  no  great  disparity  in  the  estates  of  men, 
and  whilst  people  still  lived  much  in  one  manner,  to 
obviate,  as  Lycurgus  did,  and  take  measures  of  pre- 
caution against  the  mischiefs  of  avarice,  mischiefs  not  of 
small  importance,  but  the  real  seed  and  first  beginning  of 
all  the  great  and  extensive  evils  of  after  times.  The 
re-division  of  estates,  Lycurgus  is  not,  it  seems  to  me,  to 
be  blamed  for  making,  nor  Numa  for  omitting;  this 
equality  was  the  basis  and  foundation  of  the  one  com- 
monwealth ;    but    at    Rome,  where  the  lands  had    been 


NUMA  AND  LYCURGUS.  163 

lately  divided,  there  was  nothing  to  urge  any  re-division 
or  any  disturbance  of  the  first  arrangement,  which  was 
probably  still  in  existence. 

With  respect  to  wives  and  children,  and  that  commu- 
nity which  both,  with  a  sound  policy,  appointed,  to  pre- 
vent all  jealousy,  their  methods,  however,  were  different 
For  when  a  Roman  thought  himself  to  have  a  sufficient 
number  of  children,  in  case  his  neighbor  who  had  none 
should  come  and  request  his  wife  of  him,  he  had  a  lawful 
power  to  give  her  up  to  him  who  desired  her,  either  for  a 
certain  time,  or  for  good.     The  Lacedaemonian  husband, 
on  the  other  hand,  might  allow  the  use  of  his  wife  to  anj 
other  that  desired  to  have  children  by  her,  and  yet  still 
keep  her  in  his  house,  the  original  marriage  obligation 
still  subsisting  as  at  first.     Nay,  many  husbands,  as  we  have 
said,  would  invite  men  whom  they  thought  likely  to  pro- 
cure  them   fine   and   good-looking   children    into   their 
houses.     What  is  the  difierence,  then,  between  the  two 
customs  ?     Shall  we  say  that  the  Lacedaemonian  system 
is  one  of  an  extreme  and  entire  unconcern  about  their 
wives,  and  would  cause  most  people  endless  disquiet  and 
annoyance  with  pangs  and  jealousies?  the  Roman  course 
wears  an  air  of  a  more  delicate  acquiescence,  draws  the 
veil  of  a  new  contract  over  the  change,  and  concedes  the 
general  insupportableness  of  mere  community  ?     Numa's 
directions,  too,  for  the  care  of  young  women  are  better 
adapted  to  the  female  sex  and  to  propriety ;  Lycm-gus's 
are  altogether  unreserved  and  unfeminine,  and  have  given 
a  great  handle  to  the  poets,  who  call  them  (Ibycus,  for 
example)    Phcenomendes,   bare-thighed ;    and    give    them 
the  character  (as  does  Euripides)  of  being  wild  after  hus- 
bands ; 

These  with  the  young  men  from  the  house  go  out, 
With  thighs  that  show,  and  robes  that  fly  about. 

For  in  fact  the  skirts  of  the  frock  worn  by  unmarried 


164  NUMA  AND   LYCURGUS. 

girls  were  not  sewn  together  at  the  lower  part,  but  used 
to  fly  back  and  show  the  whole  thigh  bare  as  they 
walked.  The  thing  is  most  distinctly  given  by  Soplio- 
cles. 

—  She,  also,  the  young  maid, 
Whose  frock,  no  robe  yet  o'er  it  laid,* 
Folding  back,  leaves  her  bare  thigh  free, 
Hermione. 

And  SO  their  women,  it  is  said,  were  bold  and  masculine, 
overbearing  to  their  husbands  in  the  first  place,  absolute 
mistresses  in  their  houses,  giving  their  opinions  about  pub- 
lic matters  freely,  and  speaking  openly  even  on  the  most 
important  subjects.  But  the  matrons,  under  the  govern- 
ment of  Numa,  still  indeed  received  from  their  husbands 
all  that  high  respect  and  honor  which  had  been  paid 
them  under  Romulus  as  a  sort  of  atonement  for  the  vio- 
lence done  to  them ;  nevertheless,  great  modesty  was  en- 
joined upon  them;  all  busy  intermeddling  forbidden, 
sobriety  insisted  on,  and  silence  made  habitual.  Wine 
they  were  not  to  touch  at  all,  nor  to  speak,  except  in 
their  husband's  company,  even  on  the  most  ordinary  sub- 
jects. So  that  once  when  a  woman  had  the  confidence 
to  plead  her  own  cause  in  a  court  of  judicature,  the  sen- 
ate, it  is  said,  sent  to  inquire  of  the  oracle  what  the 
prodigy  did  portend ;  and,  indeed,  their  general  good  be- 
havior and  submissiveness  is  justly  proved  by  the  record 
of  those  that  were  otherwise ;  for  as  the  Greek  historians 
record  in  their  annals  the  names  of  those  who  first  un- 
sheathed the  sword  of  civil  war,  or  murdered  their 
brothers,  or  were  parricides,  or  killed  their  mothers,  so 
the  Roman  writers  report  it  as  the  first  example,  that 
Spurius   Carvilius  divorced  his  wife,  being  a  case   that 

*  Astolos  chiton,  the  under  gar-     thing,   either  himation   or  peplus, 
mont,  frock,  or  tunic,  without  any     over  it. 


NUMA  AND  LYCURGUS.  165 

never  before  happened,  in  the  space  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty  years  from  the  foundation  of  the  city;  and  that 
one  Thalcea,  the  wife  of  Pinarius,  had  a  quarrel  (the  first 
instance  of  the  kind)  with  her  mother-in-law,  Gegania,  in 
the  reign  of  Tarquinius  Superbus ;  so  successful  was  the 
legislator  in  securing  order  and  good  conduct  in  the  mar- 
riage relation.  Their  respective  regulations  for  marrying 
the  young  women  are  in  accordance  with  those  for  their 
education.  Lycurgus  made  them  brides  when  they  were 
of  full  age  and  inclination  for  it.  Intercourse,  where  nar 
ture  was  thus  consulted,  would  produce,  he  thought,  love 
and  tenderness,  instead  of  the  dislike  and  fear  attending 
an  unnatural  compulsion ;  and  their  bodies,  also,  would  be 
better  able  to  bear  the  trials  of  breeding  and  of  bearing 
children,  in  his  judgment  the  one  end  of  marriage. 

The  Romans,  on  the  other  hand,  gave  their  daughters 
in  marriage  as  early  as  twelve  years  old,  or  even  under ; 
thus  they  thought  their  bodies  alike  and  minds  would  be 
delivered  to  the  future  husband  pure  and  undefiled.  The 
way  of  Lycurgus  seems  the  more  natural  with  a  view  to 
the  birth  of  children ;  the  other,  looking  to  a  life  to  be 
spent  together,  is  more  moral.  However,  the  rules  which 
Lycurgus  drew  up  for  superintendence  of  children,  their 
collection  into  companies,  their  discipline  and  association, 
as  also  his  exact  regulations  for  their  meals,  exercises, 
and  sports,  argue  Numa  no  more  than  an  ordinary  law- 
giver. Numa  left  the  whole  matter  simply  to  be  decided 
by  the  parent's  wishes  or  necessities;  he  might,  if  he 
pleased,  make  his  son  a  husbandman  or  carpenter,  copper- 
smith or  musician ;  as  if  it  were  of  no  importance  for 
them  to  be  directed  and  trained  up  from  the  beginning 
to  one  a,nd  the  same  common  end,  or  as  though  it  would 
do  for  them  to  be  like  passengers  on  shipboard,  brought 
thither  each  for  his  own  ends  and  by  his  own  choice, 
uniting   to    act  for   the   common   good  only  in    time  of 


166  NUMA  AND  LYCURGUS. 

danger  upon  occasion  of  their  private  fears,  in  general 
looking  simply  to  their  own  interest. 

We  may  forbear,  indeed,  to  blame  common  legislators, 
who  may  be  deficient  in  power  or  knowledge.     But  when 
a  wise  man  like  Numa  had  received  the  sovereignty  over 
a  new  and  docile  people,  was  there  any  thing  that  would 
better  deserve  his  attention  than  the  education  of  children, 
and  the  training  up  of  the  young,  not  to  contrariety  and 
discordance  of  character,  but  to  the  unity  of  the  common 
model  of  virtue,  to  which  from  their  cradle  they  should 
have  been  formed    and  moulded  ?     One  benefit   among 
many  that   Lycurgus   obtained   by  his   course    was   the 
permanence  which  it  secured  to  his  laws.     The  obligation 
of  oaths  to  preserve  them  would  have  availed  but  little, 
if  he  had  not,  by  discipline  and  education,  infused  them 
into  the  children's   characters,  and  imbued  their   whole 
early  life  with  a  love  of  his  government.     The  result  was 
that  the  main  points  and  fundamentals  of  his  legislation 
continued  for  above  five  hundred  years,  like  some  deep 
and  thoroughly  ingrained  tincture,  retaining  their  hold 
upon  the  nation.     But  Numa's  whole  design  and  aim,  the 
continuance  of  peace  and  good-will,  on  his  death  vanished 
with  him ;  no  sooner  did  he  expire  his  last  breath  than 
the  gates  of  Janus's  temple  flew  wide  open,  and,  as  if  war 
had,  indeed,  been  kept  and  caged  up  within  those  walls, 
it  rushed  forth  to  fill  all  Italy  with  blood  and  slaughter ; 
and  thus  that  best  and  justest  fabric  of  things  was  of  no 
lono;  continuance,  because  it  wanted  that  cement  which 
should  have  kept   all  together,  education.     What,  then, 
some  may  say,  has  not  Rome  been    advanced  and  bet- 
tered by  her  wars?     A  question  that  will  need  a  long 
answer,  if  it  is  to  be  one  to  satisfy  men  who  take  the 
letter  to  consist  in  riches,  luxury,  and  dominion,  rather 
than  in  security,  gentleness,  and  that  independence  which 
is  accompanied  by  justice.     However,  it  makes  much  for 


NUMA  AND  LYCURGUS.  167 

Lycurgus,  that,  after  the  Romans  deserted  the  doctrine 
and  discipUne  of  Numa,  then-  empire  grew  and  their 
power  increased  so  much ;  whereas  so  soon  as  the  Lace- 
dasmoniaus  fell  from  the  institutions  of  Lycurgus,  they 
sank  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  state,  and,  after  for- 
feiting their  supremacy  over  the  rest  of  Greece,  were 
themselves  in  danger  of  absolute  extirpation.  Thus 
much,  meantime,  was  peculiarly  signal  and  almost  divine 
in  the  circumstances  of  Numa,  that  he  was  an  alien,  and 
yet  courted  to  come  and  accept  a  kingdom,  the  frame  of 
which  though  he  entirely  altered,  yet  he  performed  it  by 
mere  persuasion,  and  ruled  a  city  that  as  yet  had  scarce 
become  one  city,  without  recurring  to  arms  or  any  vio- 
lence (such  as  Lycurgus  used,  supporting  himself  by  the 
aid  of  the  nobler  citizens  against  the  commonalty),  but, 
by  mere  force  of  wisdom  and  justice,  estabhshed  union 
and  harmony  amongst  all. 


SOLON. 


DiDYMUS,  the  grammarian,  in  his  answer  to  Asclepiades 
concerning  Solon's  Tables  of  Law,  mentions  a  passage  of 
one  Philocles,  who  states  that  Solon's  father's  name  was 
Euphorion,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  all  others  who  have 
written  concerning  him;  for  they  generally  agree  that 
he  was  the  son  of  Execestides,  a  man  of  moderate  wealth 
and  power  in  the  city,  but  of  a  most  noble  stock,  being 
descended  from  Codrus ;  his  mother,  as  Heraclides  Ponti- 
cus  affirms,  was  cousin  to  Pisistratus's  mother,  and  the 
two  at  first  were  great  friends,  partly  because  they  were 
akin,  and  partly  because  of  Pisistratus's  noble  qualities 
and  beauty.  And  they  say  Solon  loved  him ;  and  that 
is  the  reason,  I  suppose,  that  when  afterwards  they  dif- 
fered about  the  government,  their  enmity  never  produced 
any  hot  and  violent  passion,  they  remembered  their  old 
kindnesses,  and  retained  — 

Still  in  its  embers  living  the  strong  fire 

of  their  love  and  dear  affection.  For  that  Solon  was  not 
proof  against  beauty,  nor  of  courage  to  stand  up  to  pas- 
sion and  meet  it, 

Hand  to  hand  as  in  the  ring  — 

we  may  conjecture  by  his  poems,  and  one  of  his  laws,  in 
which   there    are   practices   forbidden    to   slaves,   which 

(168) 


SOLON.  169 

he  would  appear,  thereforej  to  recommend  to  freemen. 
Pisistratus,  it  is  stated,  was  similarly  attached  to  one 
Charmus^  he  it  was  who  dedicated  the  figure  of  Love 
in  the  Academ}'',  where  the  runners  in  the  sacred  torch- 
race  light  their  torches.  Solon,  as  Hermippus  writes, 
when  his  father  had  ruined  his  estate  in  doing  benefits 
and  kindnesses  to  other  men,  though  he  had  friends 
enough  that  were  willing  to  contribute  to  his  relief,  yet 
was  ashamed  to  be  beholden  to  others,  since  he  was  de- 
scended from  a  family  who  were  accustomed  to  do  kind- 
nesses rather  than  receive  them;  and  therefore  applied 
himself  to  merchandise  in  his  youth;  though  others 
assure  us  that  he  travelled  rather  to  get  learning  and  ex- 
perience than  to  make  money.  It  is  certain  that  he  was 
a  lover  of  knowledge,  for  when  he  was  old  he  would  say, 
that  he 

Each  day  grew  older,  and  learnt  something  new  ; 

and  yet  no  admirer  of  riches,  esteeming  as  equally 
wealthy  the  man, — 

Who  hath  both  gold  and  silver  in  his  hand, 
Horses  and  mules,  and  aci'es  of  wheat-land, 
And  him  whose  all  is  decent  food  to  eat, 
Clothes  to  his  back  and  shoes  upon  his  feet, 
And  a  young  wife  and  child,  since  so  'twill  be, 
And  no  more  years  than  will  with  that  agree  ;  — 

and  in  another  place, — 

Wealth  I  would  have,  but  wealth  by  wrong  procure 
I  would  not ;  justice,  e'en  if  slow,  is  sure. 

And  it  is  perfectl}^  possible  for  a  good  man  and  a  states- 
man, without  being  solicitous  for  superfluities,  to  show 
some  concern  for  competent  necessaries.     In  his  time,  as 


170  SOLON. 

.Hesiod  says,  —  "Work  was  a  shame  to  none,"  nor  was 
any  distinction  made  with  respect  to  trade,  but  mer- 
chandise was  a  noble  caUing,  which  brought  home  the 
good  things  which  the  barbarous  nations  enjoyed,  was 
the  occasion  of  friendship  with  their  kings,  and  a  great 
source  of  experience.  Some  merchants  have  built  great 
cities,  as  Protis,  the  founder  of  Massilia,  to  whom  the 
Gauls  near  the  Rhone  were  much  attached.  Some  report 
also  that  Thales  and  Hippocrates  the  mathematician 
traded ;  and  that  Plato  defrayed  the  charges  of  his  travels 
by  selling  oil  in  Egypt.  Solon's  softness  and  profuseness, 
his  popular  rather  than  philosophical  tone  about  pleasure 
in  his  poems,  have  been  ascribed  to  his  trading  life ;  for, 
having  suffered  a  thousand  dangers,  it  was  natural  they 
should  be  recompensed  with  some  gratifications  and  en- 
joyments; but  that  he  accounted  himself  rather  poor 
than  rich  is  evident  from  the  lines. 

Some  wicked  men  are  rich,  some  good  are  poor, 
We  will  not  change  our  virtue  for  their  store  ; 
Virtue's  a  thing  that  none  can  take  away, 
But  money  changes  owners  all  the  day. 

At  first  he  used  his  poetry  only  in  trifles,  not  for  any 
serious  purpose,  but  simply  to  pass  away  his  idle  hours  j 
but  afterwards  he  introduced  moral  sentences  and  state 
matters,  which  he  did,  not  to  record  them  merely  as  an 
historian,  but  to  justify  his  own  actions,  and  sometimes 
to  correct,  chastise,  and  stir  up  the  Athenians  to  noble 
performances.  Some  report  that  he  designed  to  put  his 
laws  into  heroic  verse,  and  that  they  began  thus,  — 

We  humbly  beg  a  blessing  on  our  laws 
From  mighty  Jove,  and  honor,  and  applause. 

In  philosophy,  as  most  of  the  wise  men  then,  he  chiefly 


SOLON.  171 

esteemed  the  political  p.art  of  mor.ils  ;  in  physics,  he  was 
very  plain  and  antiquated,  as  appears  by  this, — 

It  is  the  clouds  thtxt  make  the  snow  and  hail, 
And  thunder  comes  from  lightning  without  fail ; 
The  sea  is  stormy  when  the  winds  have  blown, 
But  it  deals  fairly  when  't  is  left  alone. 

And;  indeed,  it  is  probable  that  at  that  time  Thales  alone 
had  raised  philosophy  above  mere  practice  into  specula- 
tion ;  and  the  rest  of  the  wise  men  were  so  called  from 
prudence  in  political  concerns.  It  is  said,  that  they  had 
an  interview  at  Delphi,  and  another  at  Corinth,  by  the 
procurement  of  Periander,  who  made  a  meeting  for  them, 
and  a  supper.  But  their  reputation  was  chiefly  raised  by 
sending  the  tripod  to  them  all,  by  their  modest  refusal, 
and  complaisant  yielding  to  one  another.  For,  as  the 
story  goes,  some  of  the  Coans  fishing  with  a  net,  some 
strangers,  Milesians,  bought  the  draught  at  a  venture ; 
the  net  brought  up  a  golden  tripod,  which,  they  say, 
Helen,  at  her  return  from  Troy,  upon  the  remembrance 
of  an  old  prophecy,  threw  in  there.  Now,  the  strangers 
at  first  contesting  with  the  fishers  about  the  tripod,  and 
the  cities  espousing  the  quarrel  so  far  as  to  engage  them- 
selves in  a  war,  Apollo  decided  the  controversy  by  com- 
manding to  present  it  to  the  wisest  man  ;  and  first  it  was 
sent  to  Miletus  to  Thales,  the  Coans  freely  presenting  him 
with  that  for  which  they  fought  against  the  whole  body 
of  the  Milesians  ;  but,  Thales  declaring  Bias  the  wiser  per- 
son, it  was  sent  to  him ;  from  him  to  another ;  and  so, 
going  round  them  all,  it  came  to  Thales  a  second  time  ; 
and,  at  last,  being  carried  from  Miletus  to  Theljes,  was 
there  dedicated  to  Apollo  Ismenius.  Theophrastus  writes 
that  it  was  first  presented  to  Bias  at  Priene  ;  and  next  to 
Thales  at  Miletus,  and  so  through  all  it  returned  to 
Bias,  and  was  afterwards  sent  to  Delphi.    This  is  the  gene- 


172  SOLON. 

ral  report,  only  some,  instead  of  a  tripod,  say  this  present 
was  a  cup  sent  by  Croesus ;  others,  a  piece  of  plate  that 
one  Bathycles  had  left.  It  is  stated,  that  Anacharsis  and 
Solon,  and  Solon  and  Thales,  were  fomiliarly  acquainted, 
and  some  have  delivered  parts  of  their  discourse  ;  for,  they 
say,  Anacharsis,  coming  to  Athens,  knocked  at  Solon's 
door,  and  told  him,  that  he,  being  a  stranger,  was  come  to 
be  his  guest,  and  contract  a  friendship  with  him ;  and 
Solon  replying,  "  It  is  better  to  make  friends  at  home," 
Anacharsis  replied,  "  Then  you  that  are  at  home  make 
friendship  with  me."  Solon,  somewhat  surprised  at  the 
readiness  of  the  repartee,  received  him  kindly,  and  kept 
him  some  time  with  him,  being  already  engaged  in  pub- 
lic business  and  the  compilation  of  his  laws ;  which  when 
Anacharsis  understood,  he  laughed  at  him  for  imagining 
the  dishonesty  and  covetousness  of  his  countrymen  could 
be  restrained  by  written  laws,  which  were  like  spiders' 
webs,  and  would  catch,  it  is  true,  the  weak  and  poor,  but 
easily  be  broken  by  the  mighty  and  rich.  To  this  Solon 
rejoined  that  men  keep  their  promises  when  neither  side 
can  get  any  thing  by  the  breaking  of  them  ;  and  he  would 
so  fit  his  laws  to  the  citizens,  that  all  should  understand 
it  was  more  eligible  to  be  just  than  to  break  the  laws. 
But  the  event  rather  agreed  with  the  conjecture  of  Ana- 
charsis than  Solon's  hope.  Anacharsis,  being  once  at  the 
assembly,  expressed  his  wonder  at  the  fact  that  in  Greece 
wise  men  spoke  and  fools  decided. 

Solon  went,  they  say,  to  Thales  at  Miletus,  and  won- 
dered that  Thales  took  no  care  to  get  him  a  wife  and 
children.  To  this,  Thales  made  no  answer  for  the  present ; 
but,  a  few  days  after,  procured  a  stranger  to  pretend  that 
he  had  left  Athens  ten  days  ago ;  and  Solon  inquiring 
what  news  there,  the  man,  according  to  his  instructions, 
replied,  ''None  but  a  young  man's  funeral,  which  the 
whole  city  attended  ;  for  he  was  the  son,  they  said,  of  an 


SOLON.  173 

honorable  man,  the  most  virtuous  of  the  citizens,  who  was 
not  then  at  home,  but  had  been  travelling  a  long  time." 
Solon  replied,  "  What  a  miserable  man  is  he  !  But  what 
was  his  name  V  "I  have  heard  it,"  says  the  man,  "  but 
have  now  forgotten  it,  only  there  was  great  talk  of  his 
wisdom  and  his  justice."  Thus  Solon  was  drawn  on  by 
every  answer,  and  his  fears  heightened,  till  at  last,  being 
extremely  concerned,  he  mentioned  his  own  name,  and 
asked  the  stranger  if  that  young  man  was  called  Solon's 
son;  and  the  stranger  assenting,  he  began  to  beat  his 
head,  and  to  do  and  say  all  that  is  usual  with  men  in 
transports  of  grief.  But  Thales  took  his  hand,  and,  with 
a  smile,  said,  "  These  things,  Solon,  keep  me  from  mar- 
riage and  rearing  children,  which  are  too  great  for  even 
your  constancy  to  support ;  however,  be  not  concerned  at 
the  report,  for  it  is  a  fiction."  This  Hermippus  relates, 
from  Patsecus,  who  boasted  that  he  had  iEsop's  soul. 

However,  it  is  irrational  and  poor-spirited  not  to  seek 
conveniences  for  fear  of  losing  them,  for  upon  the  same 
account  we  should  not  allow  ourselves  to  like  wealth, 
glory,  or  wisdom,  since  we  may  fear  to  be  deprived  of 
all  these ;  nay,  even  virtue  itself,  than  which  there  is  no 
greater  nor  more  desirable  possession,  is  often  suspended 
by  sickness  or  drugs.  Now  Thales,  though  unmarried, 
could  not  be  free  from  solicitude,  unless  he  likewise  felt 
no  care  for  his  friends,  his  kinsmen,  or  his  country ;  yet 
we  are  told  he  adopted  Cybisthus,  his  sister's  son.  For 
the  soul,  having  a  principle  of  kindness  in  itself^  and  be- 
ing born  to  love,  as  well  as  perceive,  think,  or  remember, 
inclines  and  fixes  upon  some  stranger,  when  a  man  has 
none  of  his  own  to  embrace.  And  alien  or  illegitimate 
objects  insinuate  themselves  into  his  affections,  as  into  some 
estate  that  lacks  lawful  heirs;  and  with  affection  come 
anxiety  and  care ;  insomuch  that  you  may  see  men  that 
use  the  strongest  language  against  the  marriage-bed  and 


174  SOLON. 

the  fruit  of  it,  when  some  servant's  or  concubine's  child 
is  sick  or  dies,  almost  killed  with  grief,  and  abjectly 
lamenting.  Some  have  given  way  to  shameful  and  des- 
perate sorrow  at  the  loss  of  a  dog  or  horse ;  others  have 
borne  the  deaths  of  virtuous  children  without  any  ex- 
travagant or  unbecoming  grief,  have  passed  the  rest  of 
their  lives  like  men,  and  according  to  the  principles  of 
reason.  It  is  not  affection,  it  is  weakness,  that  brings 
men,  unarmed  against  fortune  by  reason,  into  these  end- 
less pains  and  terrors;  and  they  indeed  have  not  even 
the  present  enjoyment  of  what  they  doat  upon,  the  possi- 
bility of  the  future  loss  causing  them  continual  pangs, 
tremors,  and  distresses.  We  must  not  provide  against  the 
loss  of  wealth  by  poverty,  or  of  friends  by  refusing  all 
acquaintance,  or  of  children  by  having  none,  but  by 
morality  and  reason.     But  of  this  too  much. 

Now,  when  the  Athenians  were  tired  with  a  tedious 
and  difficult  war  that  they  conducted  against  the  Mega- 
rians  for  the  island  Salamis,  and  made  a  law  that  it  should 
be  death  for  any  man,  by  writing  or  speaking,  to  assert 
that  the  city  ought  to  endeavor  to  recover  it,  Solon, 
vexed  at  the  disgrace,  and  perceiving  thousands  of  the 
youth  wished  for  somebody  to  begin,  but  did  not  dare  to 
stir  first  for  fear  of  the  law,  counterfeited  a  distraction, 
and  by  his  own  family  it  was  spread  about  the  city  that 
he  was  mad.  He  then  secretly  composed  some  elegiac 
verses,  and  getting  them  by  heart,  that  it  might  seem  ex- 
tempore, ran  out  into  the  market-place  with  a  cap  upon 
his  head,  and,  the  people  gathering  about  him,  got  upon 
the  herald's  stand,  and  sang  that  elegy  which  begins 
thus :  — 

I  am  a  herald  come  from  Salamis  the  fair, 
My  news  from  thence  my  verses  shall  declare. 

The    poem   is   called   Salamis,   it   contains   an   hundred 


SOLON.  175 

verses,  veiy  elegantly  written ;  when  it  had  been  sung, 
his  friends  commended  it,  and  especially  Pisistratus  ex- 
horted the  citizens  to  obey  his  directions;  insomuch  that 
they  recalled  the  law,  and  renewed  the  war  under  Solon's 
conduct.  The  popular  tale  is,  that  with  Pisistratus  he 
sailed  to  Colias,  and,  finding  the  women,  according  to  the 
custom  of  the  country  there,  sacrificing  to  Ceres,  he  sent 
a  trusty  friend  to  Salamis,  who  should  pretend  himself  a 
renegade,  and  advise  them,  if  they  desired  to  seize  the 
chief  Athenian  women,  to  come  with  him  at  once  to 
Colias ;  the  Megarians  presently  sent  oflf  men  in  the 
vessel  with  him ;  and  Solon,  seeing  it  put  off  from  the 
island,  commanded  the  women  to  be  gone,  and  some 
beardless  youths,  dressed  in  their  clothes,  their  shoes,  and 
caps,  and  privately  armed  with  daggers,  to  dance  and 
play  near  the  shore  till  the  enemies  had  landed  and  the 
vessel  was  in  their  power.  Things  being  thus  ordered, 
the  Megarians  were  allured  with  the  appearance,  and, 
coming  to  the  shore,  jumped  out,  eager  who  should  first 
seize  a  prize,  so  that  not  one  of  them  escaped ;  and  the 
Athenians  set  sail  for  the  island  and  took  it. 

Others  say  that  it  was  not  taken  this  way,  but  that  he 
first  received  this  oracle  from  Delphi: 

Those  heroes  that  in  fair  Asopia  rest, 
All  buried  with  their  faces  to  the  west, 
Go  and  appease  with  offerings  of  the  best ; 

and  that  Solon,  sailing  by  night  to  the  island,  sacrificed 
to  the  heroes  Periphemus  and  Cychreus,  and  then,  taking 
five  hundred  Athenian  volunteers  (a  law  having  passed 
that  those  that  took  the  island  should  be  highest  in  the 
government),  with  a  number  of  fisher-boats  and  one 
thirty-oared  ship,  anchored  in  a  bay  of  Salamis  that  looks 
towards  Nisasa  ;  and  the  Megarians  that  were  then  in  the 
island,  hearing  only  an  uncertain  report,  hurried  to  their 


176  SOLON. 

arms,  and  sent  a  ship  to  reconnoitre  the  enemies.  This 
ship  Solon  took,  and,  securing  the  Megarians,  manned  it 
with  Athenians,  and  gave  them  orders  to  sail  to  the  island 
with  as  much  privacy  as  possible ;  meantime  he,  with  the 
other  soldiers,  marched  against  the  Megarians  by  land, 
and  whilst  they  were  fighting,  those  from  the  ship  took 
the  city.  And  this  narrative  is  confirmed  by  the  follow- 
ing solemnity,  that  was  afterwards  observed :  an  Athenian 
ship  used  to  sail  silently  at  first  to  the  island,  then,  with 
noise  and  a  great  shout,  one  leapt  out  armed,  and  with  a 
loud  cry  ran  to  the  promontory  Sciradium  to  meet  those 
that  approached  upon  the  land.  And  just  by  there  stands 
a  temple  which  Solon  dedicated  to  Mars.  For  he  beat 
the  Megarians,  and  as  many  as  were  not  killed  in  the 
battle  he  sent  away  upon  conditions. 

The  Megarians,  however,  still  contending,  and  both 
sides  having  received  considerable  losses,  they  chose  the 
Spartans  for  arbitrators.  Now,  many  affirm  that  Homer's 
authority  did  Solon  a  considerable  kindness,  and  that, 
introducing  a  line  into  the  Catalogue  of  Ships,  when  the 
matter  was  to  be  determined,  he  read  the  passage  as 
follows : 

Twelve  ships  from  Salamis  stout  Ajax  brought, 
And  ranked  his  men  where  the  Athenians  fought. 

The  Athenians,  however,  call  this  but  an  idle  story,  and 
report,  that  Solon  made  it  appear  to  the  judges,  that  Phi- 
laBus  and  Eurysaces,  the  sons  of  Ajax,  being  made  citizens 
of  Athens,  gave  them  the  island,  and  that  one  of  them 
dwelt  at  Brauron  in  Attica,  the  other  at  Melite ;  and 
they  have  a  township  of  Philaidss,  to  which  Pisistratus 
belonged,  deriving  its  name  from  this  Philaeus.  Solon 
took  a  farther  argument  against  the  Megarians  from  the 
dead  bodies,  which,  he  said,  were  not  buried  after  their 
fashion,  but  according  to  the    Athenian ;    for  the  Mega- 


SOLON.  177 

rians  turn  the  corpse  to  the  east,  the  Athenians  to  the 
west  But  Hereas  the  Megarian  denies  this,  and  affirms 
that  they  Hkewise  turn  the  body  to  the  west,  and  also 
that  the  Athenians  have  a  separate  tomb  for  everybody, 
but  the  Megarians  put  two  or  three  into  one.  However, 
some  of  Apollo's  oracles,  where  he  calls  Salamis  Ionian, 
made  much  for  Solon.  This  matter  was  determined  by 
five  Spartans,  Critolaidas,  Amompharetus,  Hypsechidas, 
Anaxilas,  and  Cleomenes. 

For  this,  Solon  grew  famed  and  powerful ;  but  his  ad- 
vice in  favor  of  defending  the  oracle  at  Delphi,  to  give 
aid,  and  not  to  suffer  the  Cirrhaaans  to  profane  it,  but  to 
maintain  the  honor  of  the  god,  got  him  most  repute 
among  the  Greeks :  for  upon  his  persuasion  the  Amphic- 
tyons  undertook  the  war,  as,  amongst  others,  Aristotle  af- 
firms, in  his  enumeration  of  the  victors  at  the  Pythian 
games,  where  he  makes  Solon  the  author  of  this  counsel. 
Solon,  however,  was  not  general  in  that  expedition,  as 
Hermippus  states,  out  of  Evanthes  the  Samian ;  for 
j:Eschines  the  orator  says  no  such  thing,  and,  in  the  Del- 
phian register,  Alcma3on,  not  Solon,  is  named  as  com- 
mander of  the  Athenians. 

Now  the  Cylonian  pollution  had  a  long  while  disturbed 
the  commonwealth,  ever  since  the  time  when  Megacles 
the  archon  persuaded  the  conspirators  with  Cylon  that 
took  sanctuary  in  Minerva's  temple  to  come  down  and 
stand  to  a  fair  trial.  And  they,  tying  a  thread  to  the 
image,  and  holding  one  end  of  it,  went  down  to  the  tri- 
bunal ;  but  when  they  came  to  the  temple  of  the  Furies, 
the  thread  broke  of  its  own  accord,  upon  which,  as  if  the 
goddess  had  refused  them  protection,  they  were  seized  by 
Megacles  and  the  other  magistrates  ;  as  many  as  were 
without  the  temples  were  stoned,  those  that  Hed  for  sanc- 
tuary were  butchered  at  the  altar,  and  only  those  escaped 
who  made  supplication  to  the  wives  of  the  magistrate?. 

VOL.  I.  12 


178  SOLON. 

But  they  from  that  time  were  considered  under  pollution, 
and  regarded  with  hatred.  The  remainder  of  the  faction 
of  Cylon  grew  strong  again,  and  had  continual  quarrels 
with  the  family  of  Megacles;  and  now  the  quarrel  being 
at  its  height,  and  the  people  divided,  Solon,  being  in  rep- 
utation, interposed  with  the  chiefest  of  the  Athenians, 
and  by  entreaty  and  admonition  persuaded  the  polluted 
to  submit  to  a  trial  and  the  decision  of  three  hundred 
noble  citizens.  And  Myron  of  Phlya  being  their  ac- 
cuser, they  were  found  guilty,  and  as  many  as  were  then 
alive  were  banished,  and  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  dug 
up,  and  scattered  beyond  the  confines  of  the  country. 
In  the  midst  of  these  distractions,  the  Megarians  falling 
upon  them,  they  lost  Niscea  and  Salamis  again ;  besides, 
the  city  was  disturbed  with  superstitious  fears  and  strange 
appearances,  and  the  priests  declared  that  the  sacrifices 
intimated  some  villanies  and  pollutions  that  were  to  be 
expiated.  Upon  this,  they  sent  for  Epimenides  the  Phae- 
stian  from  Crete,  who  is  counted  the  seventh  wise  man 
b}^  those  that  will  not  admit  Periander  into  the  number. 
He  seems  to  have  been  thought  a  favorite  of  heaven, 
possessed  of  knowledge  in  all  the  supernatural  and  ritual 
parts  of  religion ;  and,  therefore,  the  men  of  his  age  called 
him  a  new  Cures,*  and  son  of  a  nymph  named  Balte. 
When  he  came  to  Athens,  and  grew  acquainted  with 
Solon,  he  served  him  in  many  instances,  and  prepared  the 
way  for  his  legislation.  He  made  them  moderate  in  their 
forms  of  worship,  and  abated  their  mourning  by  ordering 
some  sacrifices  presently  after  the  funeral,  and  taking  off 
those  severe  and  barbarous  ceremonies  which  the  women 
usually  practised  ;  but  the  greatest  benefit  was  his  purify- 
ing and  sanctifying  the  city,  by  certain  propitiatory  and 
expiatory  lustrations,  and  foundation  of  sacred  buildings ; 

*  One  of  the  old  Cui-etes,  who     upon  his  birth  in  Crete,  come,  as  it 
took  charge  of  the  infant  Jupiter     were,  to  life  again. 


SOLON.  ]  79 

by  that  means  making  them  more  submissive  to  justice, 
and  more  incUned  to  harmony.  It  is  reported  that,  looking 
upon  Munychia,  and  considering  a  long  while,  he  said  to 
those  that  stood  by,  "  How  blind  is  man  in  future  things ! 
for  did  the  Athenians  foresee  what  mischief  this  would  do 
their  city,  they  would  even  eat  it  with  their  own  teeth 
to  be  rid  of  it."  A  similar  anticipation  is  ascribed  to 
Tliales ;  they  say  he  commanded  his  friends  to  bury  him 
in  an  obscure  and  contemned  quarter  of  the  territory  of 
Miletus,  saying  that  it  should  some  day  be  the  market- 
place of  the  Milesians.  Epimenides,  being  much  honored, 
and  receiving  from  the  city  rich  offers  of  large  gifts  and 
privileges,  requested  but  one  branch  of  the  sacred  olive, 
and,  on  that  being  granted,  returned. 

The  Athenians,  now  the  Cylonian  sedition  was  over 
and  the  polluted  gone  into  banishment,  fell  into  their 
old  quarrels  about  the  government,  there  being  as  many 
different  parties  as  there  were  diversities  in  the  country."-' 
The  Hill  quarter  ftivored  democracy,  the  Plain,  oli- 
garchy, and  those  that  lived  by  the  Sea-side  stood  for  a 
mixed  sort  of  government,  and  so  hindered  either  of  the 
other  parties  from  prevailing.  And  the  disparity  of  fortune 
between  the  rich  and  the  poor,  at  that  time,  also  reached 
its  height ;  so  that  the  city  seemed  to  be  in  a  truly  dan- 
gerous condition,  and  no  other  means  for  freeing  it  from 
disturbances  and  settling  it,  to  be  possible  but  a  despotic 
power.  All  the  people  were  indebted  to  the  rich ;  and 
either  they  tilled  their  land  for  their  creditors,  paying 
them  a  sixth  part  of  the  increase,  and  were,  therefore, 
called  Hectemorii  and  Thetes,  or  else  they  engaged  their 
body  for  the  debt,  and  might  be  seized,  and  either  sent 
into  slavery  at  home,  or  sold  to  strangers ;  some  (for  no 
law  forbade  it)  were  forced  to  sell  their  children,  or  fly 

*  The  Diacrii,  Pedieis,  and  Parali. 


180  SOLON. 

their  country  to  avoid  the  cruelty  of  their  creditors ;  but 
the  most  part  and  the  bravest  of  them  began  to  combine 
together  and  encourage  one  another  to  stand  to  it,  to 
choose  a  leader,  to  liberate  the  condemned  debtors,  divide 
the  land,  and  change  the  government. 

Then  the  wisest  of  the  Athenians,  perceiving  Solon  was 
of  all  men  the  only  one  not  implicated  in  the  troubles, 
that  he  had  not  joined  in  the  exactions  of  the  rich,  and 
was  not  involved  in  the  necessities  of  the  poor,  pressed 
him  to  succor  the  commonwealth  and  compose  the  dif- 
ferences. Though  Phanias  the  Lesbian  affirms,  that  Solon, 
to  save  his  country,  put  a  trick  upon  both  parties,  and 
privately  promised  the  poor  a  division  of  the  lands,  and 
the  rich,  security  for  their  debts.  Solon,  however,  him- 
self, says  that  it  was  reluctantly  at  first  that  he  engaged 
in  state  affairs,  being  afraid  of  the  pride  of  one  party 
and  the  greediness  of  the  other ;  he  was  chosen  archon, 
however,  after  Philombrotus,  and  empowered  to  be  an 
arbitrator  and  lawgiver;  the  rich  consenting  because  he 
was  wealthy,  the  poor  because  he  was  honest.  There  was 
a  saying  of  his  current  before  the  election,  that  when 
things  are  even  there  never  can  be  war,  and  this  pleased 
both  parties,  the  wealthy  and  the  poor ;  the  one  conceiv- 
ing him  to  mean,  when  all  have  their  fair  proportion ; 
the  others,  when  all  are  absolutely  equal.  Thus,  there 
being  great  hopes  on  both  sides,  the  chief  men  pressed 
Solon  to  take  the  government  into  his  own  hands,  and, 
when  he  was  once  settled,  manage  the  business  freely  and 
according  to  his  pleasure;  and  many  of  the  commons, 
perceiving  it  would  be  a  difficult  change  to  be  effected 
by  law  and  reason,  were  willing  to  have  one  wise  and 
just  man  set  over  the  affairs ;  and  some  say  that  Solon 
had  this  oracle  from  Apollo  — 

Take  the  mid-seat,  and  be  the  vessel's  gtiide ; 
]VIany  in  Athens  are  upon  your  side. 


SOLON  181 

But  chiefly  his  familiar  friends  chid  him  for  disaffecting 
monarchy  only  because  of  the  name,  as  if  the  virtue  of 
the  ruler  could  not  make  it  a  lawful  form ;  Euboea  had 
made  this  experiment  when  it  chose  Tynnondas,  and 
Mitylene,  which  had  made  Pittacus  its  prince ;  yet  this 
could  not  shake  Solon's  resolution ;  but,  as  they  say,  he 
replied  to  his  friends,  that  it  was  true  a  tyranny  was  a 
very  fair  spot,  but  it  had  no  way  down  from  it ;  and  in  a 
copy  of  verses  to  Phocus  he  writes, — 

—  that  I  spared  my  land, 
And  withheld  from  usurpation  and  from  violence  my  hand, 
And  forbore  to  fix  a  stain  and  a  disgrace  on  my  good  name, 
I  regret  not ;  I  believe  that  it  will  be  my  chiefest  fame. 

From  which  it  is  manifest  that  he  was  a  man  of  great 
reputation  before  he  gave  his  laws.  The  several  mocks 
that  were  put  upon  him  for  refusing  the  power,  he  records 
in  these  words,  — 

Solon  surely  was  a  di-eamer,  and  a  man  of  simple  mind ; 

When  the  gods  would  give  him  fortune,  he  of  his  own  will  declined ; 

When  the  net  was  full  of  fishes,  over-heavy  thinking  it, 

He  declined  to  haul  it  up,  through  want  of  heart  and  want  of  wit. 

Had  but  I  that  chance  of  riches  and  of  kingship,  for  one  day, 

I  would  give  my  skin  for  flaying,  and  my  house  to  die  away. 

Thus  he  makes  the  many  and  the  low  people  speak  of 
him.  Yet,  though  he  refused  the  government,  he  was  not 
too  mild  in  the  affair ;  he  did  not  show  himself  mean  and 
submissive  to  the  powerful,  nor  make  his  laws  to  pleasure 
those  that  chose  him.  For  w^here  it  was  well  before,  he 
applied  no  remedy,  nor  altered  any  thing,  for  fear  lest, 

Overthrowing  altogether  and  disordering  the  state, 

he  should  be  too  weak  to  new-model  and  recompose  it  to 
a  tolerable  condition ;  but  what  he  thought  he  could  effect 


182  SOLON. 

by  persuasion  upon  the  pliable,  and  by  force  upon  the 
stubborn,  this  he  did,  as  he  himself  says, 

With  force  and  justice  working  both  in  one. 

And,  therefore,  when  he  was  afterwards  asked  if  he  had 
left  the  Athenians  the  best  laws  that  could  be  given,  he 
replied,  "  The  best  they  could  receive."  The  way  which, 
the  moderns  say,  the  Athenians  have  of  softening  the  bad- 
ness of  a  thing,  by  ingeniously  giving  it  some  pretty  and 
innocent  appellation,  calling  harlots,  for  example,  mis- 
tresses, tributes  customs,  a  garrison  a  guard,  and  the  jail 
the  chamber,  seems  originally  to  have  been  Solon's  con- 
trivance, who  called  cancelling  debts  Seisacthea,  a  relief, 
or  disencumbrance.  For  the  first  thing  which  he  settled 
was,  that  what  debts  remained  should  be  forgiven,  and  no 
man,  for  the  future,  should  engage  the  body  of  his  debtor 
for  security.  Though  some,  as  Androtion,  afl&rm  that  the 
debts  were  not  cancelled,  but  the  interest  only  lessened, 
which  sufficiently  pleased  the  people ;  so  that  they  named 
this  benefit  the  Seisacthea,  together  with  the  enlarging 
their  measures,  and  raising  the  value  of  their  money ;  for 
he  made  a  pound,  which  before  passed  *  for  seventy-three 
drachmas,  go  for  a  hundred ;  so  that,  though  the  number 
of  pieces  in  the  payment  was  equal,  the  value  was  less ; 
which  proved  a  considerable  benefit  to  those  that  were  to 
discharge  great  debts,  and  no  loss  to  the  creditors.  But 
most  agree  that  it  was  the  taking  off  the  debts  that  was 
called  Seisacthea,  which  is  confirmed  by  some  places  in 
his  poem,  where  he  takes  honor  to  himself,  that 

The  mortgage-stones  that  covered  her,  bj  me 
Removed,  —  the  land  that  was  a  slave  is  free ; 

*  That  is  to  say,  if  a  man  owed  whereas  before,  he  would  have  paid 

three  hundred  drachmas,  his  debt  something    more   than   four.     The 

would  now  be  discharged  upon  pay-  drachma  was  reduced  twenty-seven 

ment    of  three  minas,  or   pounds ;  per  cent. 


SOLON.  183 

that  some  who  had  been  seized  for  their  debts  he  had 
brought  back  from  other  countries,  where 

—  so  far  their  lot  to  roam, 
They  had  forgot  the  language  of  their  home  ; 

and  some  he  had  set  at  liberty,  — 

Who  here  in  shamefiil  servitude  were  held. 

While  he  was  designing  this,  a  most  vexatious  thing  hap- 
pened ;  for  when  he  had  resolved  to  take  off  the  debts, 
and  was  considering  the  proper  form  and  fit  beginning 
for  it,  he  told  some  of  his  friends,  Conon,  Clinias,  and 
Hipponicus,  in  whom  he  had  a  great  deal  of  confidence, 
that  he  would  not  meddle  with  the  lands,  but  only  free 
the  people  from  their  debts ;  upon  which,  they,  using 
their  advantage,  made  haste  and  borrowed  some  consid- 
erable sums  of  money,  and  purchased  some  large  farms; 
and  when  the  law  was  enacted,  they  kept  the  possessions, 
and  would  not  return  the  money ;  which  brought  Solon 
into  great  suspicion  and  dislike,  as  if  he  himself  had  not 
been  abused,  but  was  concerned  in  the  contrivance.  But 
he  presently  stopped  this  suspicion,  by  releasing  his 
debtors  of  five  talents  (for  he  had  lent  so  much),  accord- 
ing to  the  law;  others,  as  Polyzelus  the  Rhodian,  say 
fifteen ;  his  friends,  however,  were  ever  afterward  called 
Chreocopidas,  repudiators. 

In  this  he  pleased  neither  party,  for  the  rich  were 
angry  for  their  money,  and  the  poor  that  the  land  was 
not  divided,  and,  as  Lycurgus  ordered  in  his  common- 
wealth, all  men  reduced  to  equality.  He,  it  is  true, 
being  the  eleventh  from  Hercules,  and  having  reigned 
many  years  in  Lacedaemon,  had  got  a  great  reputation 
and  friends  and  power,  which  he  could  use  in  modelling 
his  state ;  and,  applying  force  more  than  persuasion,  inso- 


184  SOLON. 

much  that  he  lost  his  eye  in  the  scuffle,  was  able  to 
employ  the  most  effectual  means  for  the  safety  and  har- 
mony of  a  state,  by  not  permitting  any  to  be  poor  or 
rich  in  his  commonwealth.  Solon  could  not  rise  to  that 
in  his  polity,  being  but  a  citizen  of  the  middle  classes ; 
yet  he  acted  fully  up  to  the  height  of  his  power,  having 
nothing  but  the  good-will  and  good  opinion  of  his  citi- 
zens to  rely  on ;  and  that  he  offended  the  most  part,  who 
looked  for  another  result,  he  declares  in  the  words, 

Formerly  they  boasted  of  me  vainly ;  with  averted  eyes 

Now  they  look  askance  upon  me ;  friends  no  more,  but  enemies. 

And  yet  had  any  other  man,  he  says,  received  the  same 
power, 

He  would  not  have  forborne,  nor  let  alone, 
But  made  the  fattest  of  the  milk  his  own. 

Soon,  however,  becoming  sensible  of  the  good  that  was 
done,  they  laid  by  their  grudges,  made  a  public  sacrifice, 
calling  it  Seisacthea,  and  chose  Solon  to  new-model  and 
make  laws  for  the  commonwealth,  giving  him  the  entire 
power  over  every  thing,  their  magistracies,  their  assem- 
blies, courts,  and  councils ;  that  he  should  appoint  the 
number,  times  of  meeting,  and  what  estate  they  must 
have  that  could  be  capable  of  these,  and  dissolve  or  con- 
tinue  any  of  the  present  constitutions,  according  to  his 
pleasure. 

First,  then,  he  repealed  all  Draco's  laws,  except  those 
concerning  homicide,  because  they  were  too  severe,  and 
the  punishments  too  great ;  for  death  was  appointed  for 
almost  all  offences,  insomuch  that  those  that  were  con- 
victed of  idleness  were  to  die,  and  those  that  stole  a  cab- 
bage or  an  apple  to  suffer  even  as  villains  that  committed 
sacrilege  or  murder.  So  that  Demades,  in  after  time,  was 
thought  to  have  said  very  happily,  that  Draco's  laws  were 
written  not  with  ink,  but  blood ;  and  he  himself,  being 


SOLON.  185 

once  asked  why  he  made  death  the  punishment  of  most 
offences,  replied,  "  Small  ones  deserve  that,  and  I  have  no 
higher  for  the  greater  crimes." 

Next,  Solon,  being  willing  to  continue  the  magistracies 
in  the  hands  of  the  rich  men,  and  yet  receive  the  people 
into  the  other  part  of  the  government,  took  an  account 
of  the  citizens'  estates,  and  those  that  were  worth  five 
hundred  measures  of  fruits,  dry  and  liquid,  he  placed  in 
the  first  rank,  calling  them  Pentacosiomedimni ;  those  that 
could  keep  an  horse,  or  were  worth  three  hundred 
measures,  were  named  Hippada  Teluntes,  and  made  the 
second  class ;  the  Zeugitge,  that  had  two  hundred  meas- 
ures, were  in  the  third ;  and  all  the  others  were  called 
Thetes,  who  were  not  admitted  to  n,ny  office,  but  could 
come  to  the  assembly,  and  act  as  jurors ;  which  at  first 
seemed  nothing,  but  afterwards  was  found  an  enormous 
privilege,  as  almost  every  matter  of  dispute  came  before 
them  in  this  latter  capacity.  Even  in  the  cases  which 
he  assigned  to  the  archons'  cognizance,  he  allowed  an 
appeal  to  the  courts.  Besides,  it  is  said  that  he  was 
obscure  and  ambiguous  in  the  wording  of  his  laws,  on 
purpose  to  increase  the  honor  of  his  courts;  for  since 
their  differences  could  not  be  adjusted  by  the  letter,  they 
would  have  to  bring  all  their  causes  to  the  judges,  who 
thus  were  in  a  manner  masters  of  the  laws.  Of  this 
equalization  he  himself  makes  mention  in  this  manner : 

Such  power  I  gave  the  people  as  might  do, 
Abridged  not  what  they  had,  now  lavished  new. 
Those  that  were  great  in  wealth  and  high  in  place, 
My  counsel  likewise  kept  from  all  disgrace. 
Before  them  both  I  held  my  shield  of  might. 
And  let  not  either  touch  the  other's  right. 

And  for  the  greater  security  of  the  weak  commons,  he 
gave  general  Hberty  of  indicting  for  an  act  of  injury; 
if  any  one  was  beaten,  maimed,  or  suffered  any  violence, 


186  SOLON. 

any  man  that  would  and  was  able,  might  prosecute  the 
wrongdoer;  intending  by  this  to  accustom  the  citizens, 
like  members  of  the  same  body,  to  resent  and  be  sensible 
of  one  another's  injuries.     And  there  is  a  saying  of  his 
agreeable  to  this  law,  for,  being  asked  what  city  was  best 
modelled,  "  That,"  said  he,  "  where  those  that  are  not  in- 
jured try  and  punish  the  unjust  as  much  as  those  that  are." 
When  he  had  constituted  the  Areopagus  of  those  who 
had   been    yearly  archons,  of  which   he   himself  was  a 
member  therefore,  observing  that  the  people,  now  free 
from  their  debts,  were  unsettled  and  imperious,  he  formed 
another  council  of  four  hundred,  a  hundred  out  of  each  of 
the  four  tribes,  which  was  to  inspect  all  matters  before 
they  were  propounded  to  the  people,  and  to  take  care 
that  nothing  but  what  had  been  first  examined  should  be 
brought  before  the  general  assembly.     The  upper  coun- 
cil, or  Areopagus,  he  made  inspectors  and  keepers  of  the 
laws,  conceiving  that  the  commonwealth,  held  by  these 
two  councils,  like  anchors,  would  be  less  liable  to  be  tossed 
by  tumults,  and  the  people  be  more  at  quiet.    Such  is  the 
general  statement,  that  Solon  instituted  the  Areopagus ; 
which  seems  to  be  confirmed,  because  Draco  makes  no 
mention  of  the  Areopagites,  but  in  all  causes  of  blood 
refers  to  the  Ephetge ;  yet  Solon's  thirteenth  table  contains 
the  eighth  law  set  down  in  these  very  words :   "  Who- 
ever  before    Solon's   archonship  were    disfranchised,  let 
them  be  restored,  except  those  that,  being  condemned  by 
the  Areopagus,  EphetaB,  or   in   the   Prytaneum   by  the 
kings,*  for  homicide,  miu-der,  or  designs  against  the  gov- 
ernment, were  in  banishment  when  this  law  was  made ;  '* 
and  these  words  seem  to  show  that  the  Areopagus  existed 
before  Solon's  laws,  for  who  could  be  condemned  by  that 
council  before  his  time,  if  he  was  the  first  that  instituted 
the  court  ?  unless,  which  is  probable,  there  is  some  ellipsis, 
*  That  is,  the  king-archons. 


SOLON.  187 

or  want  of  precision,  in  the  language,  and  it  should  run 
thus,  —  "  Those  that  are  convicted  of  such  offences  as  be- 
long to  the  cognizance  of  the  Areopagites,  Ephetse,  or  the 
Prytanes,  when  this  law  was  made,"  shall  remain  still  in 
disgrace,  whilst  others  are  restored ;  of  this  the  reader 
must  judge. 

Amongst  his  other  laws,  one  is  very  peculiar  and  sur- 
prising, which  disfranchises  all  who  stand  neuter  in  a 
sedition ;  for  it  seems  he  would  not  have  any  one  remain 
insensible  and  regardless  of  the  public  good,  and,  securing 
his  private  affairs,  glory  that  he  has  no  feeling  of  the 
distempers  of  his  country ;  but  at  once  join  with  the  good 
party  and  those  that  have  the  right  upon  their  side,  assist 
and  venture  with  them,  rather  than  keep  out  of  harm's 
way  and  watch  who  would  get  the  better.  It  seems  an 
absurd  and  fooHsh  law  which  permits  an  heiress,  if  her 
lawful  husband  fail  her,  to  take  his  nearest  kinsman ;  yet 
some  say  this  law  was  well  contrived  against  those,  who, 
conscious  of  their  own  unfitness,  yet,  for  the  sake  of  the 
portion,  would  match  with  heiresses,  and  make  use  of  law 
to  put  a  violence  upon  nature ;  for  now,  since  she  can 
quit  him  for  whom  she  pleases,  they  would  either  abstain 
from  such  marriages,  or  continue  them  with  disgrace,  and 
suffer  for  their  covetousness  and  designed  affront ;  it  is 
well  done,  moreover,  to  confine  her  to  her  husband's 
nearest  kinsman,  that  the  children  may  be  of  the  same 
family.  Agreeable  to  this  is  the  law  that  the  bride  and 
bridegroom  shall  be  shut  into  a  chamber,  and  eat  a  quince 
together ;  and  that  the  husband  of  an  heiress  shall  consort 
with  her  thrice  a  month ;  for  though  there  be  no  children, 
yet  it  is  an  honor  and  due  affection  which  an  husband 
ought  to  pay  to  a  virtuous,  chaste  wife ;  it  takes  off  all 
petty  differences,  and  will  not  permit  their  little  quarrels 
to  proceed  to  a  rupture. 

In  all  other  marriages  he  forbade  dowries  to  be  given ; 


188  SOLON. 

the  wife  was  to  have  three  suits  of  clothes,  a  little  incon- 
siderable household  stuff,  and  that  was  all ;  for  he  would 
not  have  marriages  contracted  for  gain  or  an  estate,  but 
for  pure  love,  kind  affection,  and  birth  of  children.  When 
the  mother  of  Dionysius  desired  him  to  marry  her  to  one 
of  his  citizens,  "  Indeed,"  said  he,  "  by  my  tyranny  I  have 
broken  my  country*s  laws,  but  cannot  put  a  violence  upon 
those  of  nature  by  an  unseasonable  marriage."  Such  dis- 
order is  never  to  be  suffered  in  a  commonwealth,  nor 
such  unseasonable  and  unloving  and  unperforming  mar- 
riages, which  attain  no  due  end  or  fruit ;  any  provident 
governor  or  lawgiver  might  say  to  an  old  man  that  takes 
a  young  wife  what  is  said  to  Philoctetes  in  the  tragedy,— 

Truly,  in  a  fit  state  tbou  to  marry ! 

and  if  he  finds  a  young  man,  with  a  rich  and  elderly  wife, 
growing  fat  in  his  place,  like  the  partridges,  remove  him 
to  a  young  woman  of  proper  age.     And  of  this  enough. 

Another  commendable  law  of  Solon's  is  that  which  for- 
bids men  to  speak  evil  of  the  dead ;  for  it  is  pious  to 
think  the  deceased  sacred,  and  just,  not  to  meddle  with 
those  that  are  gone,  and  politic,  to  prevent  the  perpetuity 
of  discord.  He  likewise  forbade  them  to  speak  evil  of  the 
living  in  the  temples,  the  courts  of  justice,  the  public 
offices,  or  at  the  games,  or  else  to  pay  three  drachmas  to 
the  person,  and  two  to  the  public.  For  never  to  be  able 
to  control  passion  shows  a  weak  nature  and  ill-breeding; 
and  always  to  moderate  it  is  very  hard,  and  to  some  im- 
possible. And  laws  must  look  to  possibilities,  if  the  maker 
designs  to  punish  few  in  order  to  their  amendment,  and 
not  many  to  no  purpose. 

He  is  likewise  much  commended  for  his  law  concern- 
ing wills ;  for  before  him  none  could  be  made,  but  all  the 
wealth  and  estate  of  the  deceased  belonged  to  his  family ; 


SOLON.  189 

but  he,  by  permitting  them,  if  they  had  no  children,  to  be- 
stow it  on  whom  they  pleased,  showed  that  he  esteemed 
friendship  a  stronger  tie  than  kindred,  and  affection  than 
necessity;  and  made  every  man's  estate  truly  his  own. 
Yet  he  allowed  not  all  sorts  of  legacies,  but  those  only 
which  were  not  extorted  by  the  frenzy  of  a  disease, 
charms,  imprisonment,  force,  or  the  persuasions  of  a  wife ; 
with  good  reason  thinking  that  being  seduced  into  wrong 
was  as  bad  as  being  forced,  and  that  between  deceit  and 
necessity,  flattery  and  compulsion,  there  was  little  differ- 
ence, since  both  may  equally  suspend  the  exercise  of 
reason. 

He  regulated  the  walks,  feasts,  and  mourning  of  the 
women,  and  took  away  every  thing  that  was  either  unbe- 
coming or  immodest ;  when  they  walked  abroad,  no  more 
than  three  articles  *  of  dress  were  allowed  them ;  an  obol's 
worth  of  meat  and  drink ;  and  no  basket  above  a  cubit 
high ;  and  at  night  they  were  not  to  go  about  unless  in  a 
chariot  with  a  torch  before  them.  Mourners  tearing  them- 
selves to  raise  pity,  and  set  wailings,  and  at  one  man's 
funeral  to  lament  for  another,  he  forbade.  To  offer  an 
ox  at  the  grave  was  not  peimitted,  nor  to  bury  above 
three  pieces  of  dress  with  the  body,  or  visit  the  tombs  of 
any  besides  their  own  family,  unless  at  the  very  funeral ; 
most  of  which  are  likewise  forbidden  by  our  laws.f  but 
this  is  further  added  in  ours,  that  those  that  are  convicted 
of  extravagance  in  their  mournings,  are  to  be  punished 
as  soft  and  effeminate  by  the  censors  of  women. 

Observing  the  city  to  be  filled  with  persons  that  flocked 
from  all  parts  into  Attica  for  security  of  living,  and  that 
most  of  the  country  was  barren  and  unfruitiul,  and  that 

*  For  example,  the  chiton  or  tu-  ner   and  an  outer  frock,  with  one 

nic,  himation  or  pallium,  &n(ii peplus,  shawl  or  scarf  over  them. 
i.  e.,  the  frock  with  two  sha\vls,  or         f  In  Boeoiia,  or  perhaps  at  Chse- 

one  and  a  scarf;  or  perhaps  an  in-  ronea. 


190  SOLON. 

traders  at  sea  import  nothing  to  those  that  could  give 
them  nothing  in  exchange,  he  turned  his  citizens  to 
trade,  and  made  a  law  that  no  son  should  be  obliged  to 
relieve  a  father  who  had  not  bred  him  up  to  any  calling. 
It  is  true,  Lycurgus,  having  a  city  free  from  all  strangers, 
and  land,  according  to  Euripides, 

Large  for  large  hosts,  for  twice  their  number  much, 

and,  above  all,  an  abundance  of  laborers  about  Sparta, 
who  should  not  be  left  idle,  but  be  kept  down  with  con- 
tinual toil  and  work,  did  well  to  take  off  his  citizens  from 
laborious  and  mechanical  occupations,  and  keep  them  to 
their  arms,  and  teach  them  only  the  art  of  war.  But 
Solon,  fitting  his  laws  to  the  state  of  things,  and  not  ma- 
king things  to  suit  his  laws,  and  finding  the  ground  scarce 
rich  enough  to  maintain  the  husbandmen,  and  altogether 
incapable  of  feeding  an  unoccupied  and  leisurely  multi- 
tude, brought  trades  into  credit,  and  ordered  the  Areo- 
pagites  to  examine  how  every  man  got  his  living,  and 
chastise  the  idle.  But  that  law  was  yet  more  rigid  which, 
as  Heraclides  Ponticus  delivers,  declared  the  sons  of  un- 
married mothers  not  obliged  to  relieve  their  fathers ;  for 
he  that  avoids  the  honorable  form  of  union  shows  that  he 
does  not  take  a  woman  for  children,  but  for  pleasure,  and 
thus  gets  his  just  reward,  and  has  taken  away  from  him- 
self every  title  to  upbraid  his  children,  to  whom  he  has 
made  their  very  birth  a  scandal  and  reproach. 

Solon's  laws  in  general  about  women  are  his  strangest ; 
for  he  permitted  any  one  to  kill  an  adulterer  that  found 
him  in  the  act ;  but  if  any  one  forced  a  free  woman,  a 
hundred  drachmas  was  the  fine  ;  if  he  enticed  her,  twenty ; 
except  those  that  sell  themselves  openly,  that  is,  harlots, 
who  go  openly  to  those  that  hire  them.  He  made  it 
unlawful  to  sell  a  daughter  or  a  sister,  unless,  being  yet 


SOLON.  191 

unmarried,  she  was  found  wanton.  Now  it  is  irrational 
to  punish  the  same  crime  sometimes  ver}'^  severely  and 
without  remorse,  and  sometimes  very  lightly,  and,  as  it 
were,  in  sport,  with  a  trivial  fine ;  unless,  there  being 
little  money  then  in  Athens,  scarcity  made  those  mulcts 
the  more  grievous  punishment.  In  the  valuation  for 
sacrifices,  a  sheep  and  a  bushel  were  both  estimated  at  a 
drachma ;  *  the  victor  in  the  Isthmian  games  was  to  have 
for  reward  an  hundred  drachmas ;  the  conqueror  in  the 
Olympian,  five  hundred:  he  that  brought  a  wolf,  five 
drachmas ;  for  a  whelp,  one  -,  the  former  sum,  as  Deme- 
trius the  Phalerian  asserts,  was  the  value  of  an  ox,  the 
latter,  of  a  sheep.  The  prices  which  Solon,  in  his  sixteenth 
table,  sets  on  choice  victims,  were  naturally  far  greater ; 
yet  they,  too,  are  very  low  in  comparison  of  the  present. 
The  Athenians  were,  from  the  beginning,  great  enemies 
to  wolves,  their  fields  being  better  for  pasture  than  com. 
Some  affirm  their  tribes  did  not  take  their  names  from 
the  sons  of  Ion,  but  from  the  difierent  sorts  of  occupation 
that  they  followed  ;  the  soldiers  were  called  Hoplitae,  the 
craftsmen  Ergades,  and,  of  the  remaining  two,  the  farmers 
Gedeontes,  and  the  shepherds  and  graziers  -^gicores. 

Since  the  country  has  but  few  rivers,  lakes,  or  large 
springs,  and  many  used  wells  which  they  had  dug,  there 
was  a  law  made,  that,  where  there  was  a  public  well  with- 
in a  hippicon,  that  is,  four  furlongs,  all  should  draw  at  that ; 
tut,  when  it  was  farther  off",  they  should  try  and  procure 
a  well  of  their  own ;  and,  if  they  had  dug  ten  fathom 
deep  and  could  find  no  water,  they  had  liberty  to  fetch 
a  pitcherful  of  four  gallons  and  a  half  in  a  day  from  their 
neighbors' ;  for  he  thought  it  prudent  to  make  provision 

*  The  Attic  drachma,  it  is  conve-  drachma,     was,     therefore,    worth 

nient  to  remember,  is  just  about  about    three    half-pence,   or   three 

equivalent  to  a  French  franc ;  the  cents, 
obol,   six   of    which   went   lo   the 


192  SOLON. 

against  want,  but  not  to  supply  laziness.  He  showed 
skill  in  his  orders  about  planting,  for  any  one  that  would 
plant  another  tree  was  not  to  set  it  within  five  feet  of  his 
neighbor's  field  ;  but  if  a  fig  or  an  olive,  not  within  nine ; 
for  their  roots  spread  farther,  nor  can  they  be  planted 
near  all  sorts  of  trees  without  damage,  for  they  draw 
away  the  nourishment,  and  in  some  cases  are  noxious  by 
their  effluvia.  He  that  would  dig  a  pit  or  a  ditch  was  to 
dig  it  at  the  distance  of  its  own  depth  from  his  neighbor's 
ground ;  and  he  that  would  raise  stocks  of  bees  was  not 
to  place  them  within  three  hundred  feet  of  those  which 
another  had  already  raised. 

He  permitted  only  oil  to  be  exported,  and  those  that 
exported  any  other  fruit,  the  archon  was  solemnly  to 
curse,  or  else  pay  an  hundred  drachmas  himself;  and  this 
law  was  written  in  his  first  table,  and,  therefore,  let  none 
think  it  incredible,  as  some  affirm,  that  the  exportation  of 
figs  was  once  unlawful,  and  the  informer  against  the 
delinquents  called  a  sycophant.  He  made  a  law,  also, 
concerning  hurts  and  injuries  from  beasts,  in  which  he 
commands  the  master  of  any  dog  that  bit  a  man  to 
deliver  him  up  with  a  log  about  his  neck,  four  and  a  half 
feet  long ;  a  happy  device  for  men's  security.  The  law 
concerning  naturalizing  strangers  is  of  doubtful  character ; 
he  permitted  only  those  to  be  made  free  of  Athens  who 
were  in  perpetual  exile  from  their  own  country,  or  came 
with  their  whole  family  to  trade  there ;  this  he  did,  not 
to  discourage  strangers,  but  rather  to  invite  them  to  a 
permanent  participation  in  the  privileges  of  the  govern- 
ment;  and,  besides,  he  thought  those  would  prove  the 
more  faithful  citizens  who  had  been  forced  from  their 
own  country,  or  voluntarily  forsook  it.  The  law  of  pub- 
lic entertainment  {parasitem  is  his  name  for  it)  is,  also, 
peculiarly  Solon's,  for  if  any  man  came  often,  or  if  he 
that  was  invited  refused,  they  were  punished,  for  he  con- 


SOLON.  193 

eluded  that  one  was  greedy,  the  other  a  contemner  of  the 
state. 

All  his  laws  he  established  for  an  hundred  years,  and 
wrote  them  on  wooden  tables  or  rollers,  named  axones, 
which  might  be  turned  round  in  oblong  cases ;  some  of 
their  relics  were  in  my  time  still  to  be  seen  in  the  Pryta- 
neum,  or  common  hall,  at  Athens.  These,  as  Aristotle 
states,  were  called  cyrbes,  and  there  is  a  passage  of  Cra- 
tinus  the  comedian. 

By  Solon,  and  by  Draco,  if  you  please, 

"Whose  Cyrbes  make  the  fires  that  parch  our  peas. 

But  some  say  those  are  properly  cyrbes,  which  contain 
laws  concerning  sacrifices  and  the  rites  of  religion,  and 
all  the  others  axones.  The  council  all  jointly  swore  to 
confirm  the  laws,  and  every  one  of  the  Thesmothetse 
vowed  for  himself  at  the  stone  in  the  market-place,  that, 
if  he  broke  any  of  the  statutes,  he  would  dedicate  a 
golden  statue,  as  big  as  himself,  at  Delphi. 

Observing  the  irregularity  of  the  months,  and  that  the 
moon  does  not  always  rise  and  set  with  the  sun,  but  often 
in  the  same  day  overtakes  and  gets  before  him,  he  ordered 
the  day  should  be  named  the  Old  and  New,*  attributing 
that  part  of  it  which  was  before  the  conjunction  to  the 
old  moon,  and  the  rest  to  the  new,  he  being  the  first,  it 
seems,  that  understood  that  verse  of  Homer, 

The  end  and  the  beginning  of  the  month, 

and  the  following  day  he  called  the  new  moon.  After 
the  twentieth  he  did  not  count  by  addition,  but,  like  the 
moon  itself  in  its  wane,  by  subtraction ;  thus  up  to  the 
thirtieth. 

Now  when  these  laws  were  enacted,  and  some  came  to 

*  Ene  cai  nea. 
VOL.  I.  13 


194  SOLON. 

Solon  every  day,  to  commend  or  dispraise  them,  and 
to  advise,  if  possible,  to  leave  out,  or  put  in  something, 
and  many  criticized,  and  desired  him  to  explain,  and  tell 
the  meaning  of  such  and  such  a  passage,  he,  knowing 
that  to  do  it  was  useless,  and  not  to  do  it  would  get  him 
ill-will,  and  desirous  to  bring  himself  out  of  all  straits, 
and  to  escape  all  displeasure  and  exceptions,  it  being  a 
hard  thing,  as  he  himself  says, 

In  great  affairs  to  satisfy  all  sides, 

as  an  excuse  for  travelling,  bought  a  trading  vessel, 
and,  having  obtained  leave  for  ten  years'  absence,  de- 
parted, hoping  that  by  that  time  his  laws  would  have 
become  familiar. 

His  first  voyage  was  for  Egypt,  and  he  lived,  as  he 
himself  says, 

Near  Nilus'  mouth,  by  fair  Canopus'  shore, 

and  spent  some  time  in  study  with  Psenophis  of  Helio- 
polis,  and  Sonchis  the  Saite,  the  most  learned  of  all  the 
priests ;  from  whom,  as  Plato  says,  getting  knowledge  of 
the  Atlantic  story,  he  put  it  into  a  poem,  and  proposed 
to  bring  it  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Greeks.  From  thence 
he  sailed  to  Cyprus,  where  he  was  made  much  of  by  Phi- 
locyprus,  one  of  the  kings  there,  who  had  a  small  city 
built  by  Demophon,  Theseus's  son,  near  the  river  Cla- 
rius,  in  a  strong  situation,  but  incommodious  and  uneasy 
of  access.  Solon  persuaded  him,  since  there  lay  a  fair 
plain  below,  to  remove,  and  build  there  a  pleasanter  and 
more  spacious  city.  And  he  stayed  himself,  and  assisted  in 
gathering  inhabitants,  and  in  fitting  it  both  for  defence  and 
convenience  of  living;  insomuch  that  many  flocked  to 
Philocyprus,  and  the  other  kings  imitated  the  design; 
and,  therefore,  to  honor  Solon,  he  called  the  city  Soli, 
which  was  formerly  named  ^pea.     And  Solon  himself, 


SOLON.  195 

in  his  Elegies,  addressing  Pliilocyprus,  mentions  this  foun- 
dation in  these  words  — 

Long  may  you  live,  and  fill  the  Solian  throne, 
Succeeded  still  by  children  of  your  own  ; 
And  from  your  happy  island  while  I  sail, 
Let  Cyprus  *  send  for  me  a  favoring  gale ; 
May  she  advance,  and  bless  your  new  command. 
Prosper  your  town,  and  send  me  safe  to  land. 

That  Solon  should  discourse  with  Croesus,  some  think 
not  agreeable  with  chronology;  but  I  cannot  reject  so 
famous  and  well-attested  a  narrative,  and,  what  is  more, 
so  agreeable  to  Solon's  temper,  and  so  worthy  his  wisdom 
and  greatness  of  mind,  because,  forsooth,  it  does  not  agree 
with  some  chronological  canons,  which  thousands  have 
endeavored  to  regulate,  and  yet,  to  this  day,  could  never 
bring  their  differing  opinions  to  any  agreement.  They 
say,  therefore,  that  Solon,  coming  to  Croesus  at  his  re- 
quest, was  in  the  same  condition  as  an  inland  man  when 
first  he  goes  to  see  the  sea ;  for  as  he  fancies  every  river 
he  meets  with  to  be  the  ocean,  so  Solon,  as  he  passed 
through  the  court,  and  saw  a  great  many  nobles  richly 
dressed,  and  proudly  attended  with  a  multitude  of  guards 
and  footboys,  thought  every  one  had  been  the  king,  till 
he  was  brought  to  Croesus,  who  was  decked  with  every 
possible  rarity  and  curiosity,  in  ornaments  of  jewels,  purple, 
and  gold,  that  could  make  a  grand  and  gorgeous  spectacle 
of  him.  Now  when  Solon  came  before  him,  and  seemed 
not  at  all  surprised,  nor  gave  Croesus  those  compliments 
he  expected,  but  showed  himself  to  all  discerning  eyes  to 
be  a  man  that  despised  the  gaudiness  and  petty  ostenta- 
tion of  it,  he  commanded  them  to  open  all  his  treasure 
houses,  and  carry  him  to  see  his  sumptuous  furniture  and 
luxuries,  though  he  did  not  wish  it;  Solon  could  judge  of 

*  The  Cyprian  Venus. 


196  SOLON. 

him  well  enough  by  the  first  sight  of  him ;  and,  when  he 
returned  from  viewing  all,  Crcesus  asked  him  if  ever  he 
had  known  a  happier  man  than  he.  And  when  Solon 
answered  that  he  had  known  one  Tellus,  a  fellow-citizen 
of  his  own,  and  told  him  that  this  Tellus  had  been  an 
honest  man,  had  had  good  children,  a  competent  estate, 
and  died  bravely  in  battle  for  his  country,  Croesus  took 
him  for  an  ill-bred  fellow  and  a  fool,  for  not  measuring 
happiness  by  the  abundance  of  gold  and  silver,  and  pre- 
ferring the  life  and  death  of  a  private  and  mean  man  be- 
fore so  much  power  and  empire.  He  asked  him,  however, 
again,  if,  besides  Tellus,  he  knew  any  other  man  more 
happy.  And  Solon  replying,  Yes,  Cleobis  and  Biton, 
who  were  loving  brothers,  and  extremely  dutiful  sons 
to  their  mother,  and,  when  the  oxen  delayed  her,  har- 
nessed themselves  to  the  wagon,  and  drew  her  to  Juno's 
temple,  her  neighbors  all  calling  her  happy,  and  she  her- 
self rejoicing ;  then,  after  sacrificing  and  feasting,  they 
went  to  rest,  and  never  rose  again,  but  died  in  the  midst 
of  their  honor  a  painless  and  tranquil  death,  "What," 
said  Croesus,  angrily,  "and  dost  not  thou  reckon  us 
amongst  the  happy  men  at  all  ?  "  Solon,  unwilling  either 
to  flatter  or  exasperate  him  more,  replied,  "  The  gods,  0 
king,  have  given  the  Greeks  all  other  gifts  in  moderate 
degree ;  and  so  our  wisdom,  too,  is  a  cheerful  and  a 
homely,  not  a  noble  and  kingly  wisdom ;  and  this,  obser- 
ving the  numerous  misfortunes  that  attend  all  conditions, 
forbids  us  to  grow  insolent  upon  our  present  enjoyments, 
or  to  admire  any  man's  happiness  that  may  yet,  in  course 
of  time,  suffer  change.  For  the  uncertain  future  has  yet 
to  come,  with  every  possible  variety  of  fortune ;  and  him 
only  to  whom  the  divinity  has  continued  happiness  unto 
the  end,  we  call  happy ;  to  salute  as  happy  one  that  is 
still  in  the  midst  of  Hfe  and  hazard,  we  think  as  little  safe 
and  conclusive  as  to  crown  and  proclaim  as  victorious  the 


SOLON.  197 

wrestler  that  is  yet  in  the  ring."  After  this,  he  was  dis- 
missed, having  given  Croesus  some  pain,  but  no  instruc- 
tion. 

^sop,  who  wrote  the  fables,  being  then  at  Sardis  upon 
Croesus's  invitation,  and  very  much  esteemed,  was  con- 
cerned that  Solon  was  so  ill-received,  and  gave  him  this 
advice :  "  Solon,  let  your  converse  with  kings  be  either 
short  or  seasonable."  "  Nay,  rather,"  replied  Solon,  "  either 
short  or  reasonable."  So  at  this  time  Croesus  despised  So- 
lon ;  but  when  he  was  overcome  by  Cyrus,  had  lost  his 
city,  was  taken  alive,  condemned  to  be  burnt,  and  laid 
bound  upon  the  pile  before  all  the  Persians  and  Cyrus 
himself,  he  cried  out  as  loud  as  possibly  he  could  three 
times,  "  0  Solon  !  "  and  Cyrus  being  surprised,  and  sending 
some  to  inquire  what  man  or  god  this  Solon  was,  whom 
alone  he  invoked  in  this  extremit}^,  Croesus  told  him 
the  whole  story,  saying,  "  He  was  one  of  the  wise  men  of 
Greece,  whom  I  sent  for,  not  to  be  instructed,  or  to  learn 
any  thing  that  I  wanted,  but  that  he  should  see  and  be  a 
witness  of  my  happiness  ;  the  loss  of  which  was,  it  seems, 
to  be  a  greater  evil  than  the  enjoyment  was  a  good ;  for 
when  I  had  them  they  were  goods  only  in  opinion,  but 
now  the  loss  of  them  has  brought  upon  me  intolerable 
and  real  evils.  And  he,  conjecturing  from  what  then  was, 
this  that  now  is,  bade  me  look  to  the  end  of  my  life,  and 
not  rely  and  grow  proud  upon  uncertainties."  When  this 
was  told  Cyrus,  who  was  a  wiser  man  than  Croesus,  and 
saw  in  the  present  example  Solon's  maxim  confirmed,  he 
not  only  freed  Croesus  from  punishment,  but  honored  him 
as  long  as  he  lived ;  and  Solon  had  the  glory,  by  the  same 
saying,  to  save  one  king  and  instruct  another. 

When  Solon  was  gone,  the  citizens  began  to  quarrel; 
Lycurgus  headed  the  Plain ;  Megacles,  the  son  of  Alc- 
maeon,  those  to  the  Sea-side ;  and  Pisistratus  the  Hill-party, 
in  which  were  the  poorest  people,  the  Thetes,  and  greatest 


198  SOLON. 

enemies  to  the  rich ;  insomuch  that,  though  the  city  still 
used  the  new  laws,  yet  all  looked  for  and  desired  a  change 
of  government,  hoping  severally  that  the  change  would 
be  better  for  them,  and  put  them  above  the  contrary  fac- 
tion.     Affairs    standing   thus,  Solon   returned,  and   was 
reverenced  by  all,  and  honored ;  but  his  old  age  would 
not  permit  him  to  be  as  active,  and  to  speak  in  public,  as 
formerly ;  yet,  by  privately  conferring  with  the  heads  of 
the  factions,  he  endeavored  to  compose  the  differences, 
Pisistratus  appearing  the  most  tractable ;  for  he  was  ex- 
tremely smooth  and  engaging  in  his  language,  a  great 
friend  to  the  poor,  and  moderate  in  his  resentments ;  and 
what  nature  had  not  given  him,  he  had  the  skill  to  imi- 
tate ;  so  that  he  was  trusted  more  than  the  others,  being 
accounted   a  prudent  and   orderly  man,  one  that  loved 
equality,  and  would  be  an  enemy  to  any  that  moved 
against  the  present  settlement.     Thus  he  deceived  the 
majority  of  people ;   but  Solon   quickly   discovered   his 
character,  and  found  out  his  design  before  any  one  else ; 
yet  did  not  hate  him  upon  this,  but  endeavored  to  humble 
him,  and  bring  him  off  from  his  ambition,  and  often  told 
him  and  others,  that  if  any  one  could  banish  the  passion 
for  preeminence  from  his  mind,  and  cure  him  of  his  desire 
of  absolute  power,  none  would  make  a  more  virtuous 
man  or  a  more  excellent  citizen.     Thespis,  at  this  time, 
beginning  to  act  tragedies,  and  the  thing,  because  it  was 
new,  taking  very  much  with  the  multitude,  though  it  was 
not  yet  made  a  matter  of  competition,  Solon,  being  by 
nature  fond  of  hearing  and  learning  something  new,  and 
now,  in  his  old  age,  living  idly,   and  enjoying   himself, 
indeed,  with  music  and  with  wine,  went  to  see  Thespis 
himself,  as  the  ancient  custom  was,  act;  and  after  the 
play  was  done,  he  addressed  him,  and  asked  him  if  he 
was  not  ashamed  to  tell  so  many  lies  before  such  a  num- 
ber of  people ;  and  Thespis  replying  that  it  was  no  harm 


SOLON.  199 

to  say  or  do  so  in  play,  Solon  vehemently  struck  his  statf 
against  the  ground :  "  Ay,"  said  he,  "  if  we  honor  and 
commend  such  play  as  this,  we  shall  find  it  some  day  in 
our  business." 

Now  when  Pisistratus,  having  wounded  himself,  was 
brought  into  the  market-place  in  a  chariot,  and  stirred 
up  the  people,  as  if  he  had  been  thus  treated  by  his  op- 
ponents because  of  his  political  conduct,  and  a  great 
many  were  enraged  and  cried  out,  Solon,  coming  close  to 
him,  said,  "  This,  0  son  of  Hippocrates,  is  a  bad  copy  of 
Homer's  Ulysses ;  you  do,  to  trick  your  countrymen,  what 
he  did  to  deceive  his  enemies."  After  this,  the  people 
were  eager  to  protect  Pisistratus,  and  met  in  an  assem- 
bly, where  one  Ariston  making  a  motion  that  they  should 
allow  Pisistratus  fifty  clubmen  for  a  guard  to  his  person, 
Solon  opposed  it,  and  said,  much  to  the  same  purport  as 
what  he  has  left  us  in  his  poems, 

You  doat  upon  his  words  and  taking  phrase ; 

and  again, — 

True,  you  are  singly  each  a  ci-afty  soul, 
But  all  together  make  one  empty  fooL 

But  observing  the  poor  men  bent  to  gratify  Pisistratus, 
and  tumultuous,  and  the  rich  fearful  and  getting  out  of 
harm's  way,  he  departed,  saying  he  was  wiser  than  some 
and  stouter  than  others;  wiser  than  those  that  did  not 
understand  the  design,  stouter  than  those  that,  though 
they  understood  it,  were  afraid  to  oppose  the  tyranny. 
Now,  the  people,  having  passed  the  law,  were  not  nice 
with  Pisistratus  about  the  number  of  his  clubmen,  but 
took  no  notice  of  it,  though  he  enlisted  and  kept  as 
many  as  he  would,  until  he  seized  the  Acropolis.  When 
that  was  done,  and  the  city  in  an  uproar,  Megacles,  with 
all  his  family,  at  once  fled;    but  Solon,  though  he  was 


200  SOLON. 

now  very  old,  and  had  none  to  back  him,  yet  came  into 
the  market-place  and  made  a  speech  to  the  citizens, 
partly  blaming  their  inadvertency  and  meanness  of  spirit, 
and  in  part  urging  and  exhorting  them  not  thus  tamely 
to  lose  their  liberty ;  and  likewise  then  spoke  that 
memorable  saying,  that,  before,  it  was  an  easier  task 
to  stop  the  rising  tyranny,  but  now  the  greater  and 
more  glorious  action  to  destroy  it,  when  it  was  begun 
already,  and  had  gathered  strength.  But  all  being  afraid 
to  side  with  him,  he  returned  home,  and,  taking  his  arms, 
he  brought  them  out  and  laid  them  in  the  porch  before 
his  door,  with  these  words :  "  I  have  done  my  part  to 
maintain  my  country  and  my  laws,"  and  then  he  busied 
himself  no  more.  His  friends  advising  him  to  fly,  he 
refused,  but  wrote  poems,  and  thus  reproached  the  Athe- 
nians in  them,  — 

If  now  you  suffer,  do  not  blame  the  Powers, 
For  they  are  good,  and  all  the  fault  was  ours. 
All  the  strongholds  you  put  into  his  hands, 
And  now  his  slaves  must  do  what  he  commands. 

And  many  telling  him  that  the  tyrant  would  take  his 
life  for  this,  and  asking  what  he  trusted  to,  that  he  ven- 
tured to  speak  so  boldly,  he  replied, "  To  my  old  age."  But 
Pisistratus,  having  got  the  command,  so  extremely  courted 
Solon,  so  honored  him,  obliged  him,  and  sent  to  see  him, 
that  Solon  gave  him  his  advice,  and  approved  many  of 
his  actions;  for  he  retained  most  of  Solon's  laws,  ob- 
served them  himself,  and  compelled  his  friends  to  obey. 
And  he  himself,  though  already  absolute  ruler,  being 
accused  of  murder  before  the  Areopagus,  came  quietly  to 
clear  himself;  but  his  accuser  did  not  appear.  And  he 
added  other  laws,  one  of  which  is  that  the  maimed  in 
the  wars  should  be  maintained  at  the  public  charge ;  this 
Heraclides  Ponticus  records,  and  that  Pisistratus  followed 


SOLON.  201 

Solon's  example  in  this,  who  had  decreed  it  in  the 
case  of  one  Thersippus,  that  was  maimed ;  and  Theo- 
phrastus  asserts  that  it  was  Pisistratiis,  not  Solon,  that 
made  that  law  against  laziness,  which  was  the  reason  that 
the  country  was  more  productive,  and  the  city  tranquiller. 
Now  Solon,  having  begun  the  great  work  in  verse, 
the  history  or  fable  of  the  Atlantic  Island,  which  he  had 
learned  from  the  wise  men  in  Sais,  and  thought  conveni- 
ent for  the  Athenians  to  know,  abandoned  it;  not,  as 
Plato  says,  by  reason  of  want  of  time,  but  because  of 
his  age,  and  being  discouraged  at  the  greatness  of  the 
task ;  for  that  he  had  leisure  enough,  such  verses  tes- 
tify, as 

Each  day  grow  older,  and  leam  something  new 

and  again, — 

But  now  the  Powers  of  Beauty,  Song,  and  "Wine, 
Which  are  most  men's  delights,  are  also  mine. 

Plato,  willing  to  improve  the  story  of  the  Atlantic  Island, 
as  if  it  were  a  fair  estate  that  wanted  an  heir  and  came 
with  some  title  to  him,  formed,  indeed,  stately  entrances, 
noble  enclosures,  large  courts,  such  as  never  yet  introduced 
any  story,  fable,  or  poetic  fiction ;  but,  beginning  it  late, 
ended  his  life  before  his  work ;  and  the  reader's  regret  for 
the  unfinished  part  is  the  greater,  as  the  satisfaction 
he  takes  in  that  which  is  complete  is  extraordinary.  For 
as  the  city  of  Athens  left  only  the  temple  of  Jupiter 
Olympius  unfinished,  so  Plato,  amongst  all  his  excellent 
works,  left  this  only  piece  about  the  Atlantic  Island  im- 
perfect. Solon  lived  after  Pisistratus  seized  the  govern- 
ment, as  Heraclides  Ponticus  asserts,  a  long  time ;  but 
Phanias  the  Eresian  says  not  two  full  years ;  for  Pisistra- 
tus began  his  tyranny  when  Comias  was  archon,  and 
Phanias  says  Solon  died  under  Hegestratui3,  who  succeeded 


202  SOLON. 

Comias.  The  story  that  his  ashes  were  scattered  about 
the  island  Salamis  is  too  strange  to  be  easily  believed,  or 
be  thought  any  thing  but  a  mere  fable ;  and  yet  it  is 
given,  amongst  other  good  authors,  by  Aristotle,  the  phi- 
losopher. 


POPLICOLA. 


Such  was  Solon.  To  him  we  compare  Poplicola,  who  re- 
ceived this  later  title  from  the  Roman  people  for  his  merit, 
as  a  noble  accession  to  his  former  name,  Publius  Valerius. 
He  descended  from  Valerius,  a  man  amongst  the  early 
citizens,  reputed  the  principal  reconciler  of  the  differences 
betwixt  the  Romans  and  Sabines,  and  one  that  was  most 
instrumental  in  persuading  their  kings  to  assent  to  peace 
and  union.  Thus  descended,  Publius  Valerius,  as  it  is  said, 
whilst  Rome  remained  under  its  kingly  government,  ob- 
tained as  great  a  name  from  his  eloquence  as  from  his 
riches,  charitably  employing  the  one  in  liberal  aid  to  the 
poor,  the  other  with  integrity  and  freedom  in  the  ser- 
vice of  justice;  thereby  giving  assurance,  that,  should  the 
government  fall  into  a  republic,  he  would  become  a  chief 
man  in  the  community.  The  illegal  and  wicked  accession 
of  Tarquinius  Superbus  to  the  crown,  with  his  making  it, 
instead  of  kingly  rule,  the  instrument  of  insolence  and 
tyranny,  having  inspired  the  people  with  a  hatred  to  his 
reign,  upon  the  death  of  Lucretia  (she  killing  herself 
after  violence  had  been  done  to  her),  they  took  an  occa- 
sion of  revolt ;  and  Lucius  Brutus,  engaging  in  the  change, 
came  to  Valerius  before  all  others,  and,  with  his  zealous 
assistance,  deposed  the  kings.  And  whilst  the  people 
inclined  towards  the  electing  one  leader  instead  of  their 
king,  Valerius  acquiesced,  that  to  rule  was  rather  Bru- 

(308) 


204  POPLICOLA. 

tus's  due,  as  the  author  of  the  democracy.  But  when  the 
name  of  monarchy  was  odious  to  the  people,  and  a  divided 
power  appeared  more  grateful  in  the  prospect,  and  two 
were  chosen  to  hold  it,  Valerius,  entertaining  hopes  that 
he  might  be  elected  consul  with  Brutus,  was  disappointed ; 
for,  instead  of  Valerius,  notwithstanding  the  endeavors  of 
Brutus,  Tarquinius  Collatinus  was  chosen,  the  husband 
of  Lucretia,  a  man  noways  his  superior  in  merit.  But 
the  nobles,  dreading  the  return  of  their  kings,  who  still 
used  all  endeavors  abroad  and  sohcitations  at  home,  were 
resolved  upon  a  chieftain  of  an  intense  hatred  to  them, 
and  noways  likely  to  yield. 

Now  Valerius  was  troubled,  that  his  desire  to  serve 
his  country  should  be  doubted,  because  he  had  sustained 
no  private  injury  from  the  insolence  of  the  tyrants. 
He  withdrew  from  the  senate  and  practice  of  the  bar, 
quitting  all  public  concerns ;  which  gave  an  occasion  of 
discourse,  and  fear,  too,  lest  his  anger  should  reconcile  him 
to  the  king's  side,  and  he  should  prove  the  ruin  of  the 
state,  tottering  as  yet  under  the  uncertainties  of  a  change. 
But  Brutus  being  doubtful  of  some  others,  and  determin- 
ing to  give  the  test  to  the  senate  upon  the  altars,  upon 
the  day  appointed  Valerius  came  with  cheerfulness  into 
the  forum,  and  was  the  first  man  that  took  the  oath,  in 
no  way  to  submit  or  yield  to  Tarquin's  propositions,  but 
rigorously  to  maintain  liberty ;  which  gave  great  satis- 
faction to  the  senate  and  assurance  to  the  consuls,  his 
actions  soon  after  showing  the  sincerity  of  his  oath.  For 
ambassadors  came  from  Tarquin,  with  popular  and  spe- 
cious proposals,  whereby  they  thought  to  seduce  the  peo- 
ple, as  though  the  king  had  cast  off  all  insolence,  and 
made  moderation  the  only  measure  of  his  desires.  To  this 
embassy  the  consuls  thought  fit  to  give  public  audience, 
but  Valerius  opposed  it,  and  would  not  permit  that  the 
poorer  people,  who  entertained  more  fear  of  war  than  of 


POPLICOLA.  205 

tyranny,  should  have  any  occasion  offered  them,  or  any 
temptations  to  new  designs.  Afterwards  other  ambassa- 
dors arrived,  who  declared  their  king  would  recede  from 
his  crown,  and  lay  down  his  arms,  only  capitulating  for  a 
restitution  to  himself,  his  friends,  and  allies,  of  their 
moneys  and  estates  to  support  them  in  their  banishment. 
Now,  several  inclining  to  the  request,  and  Collatinus  in  par- 
ticular favoring  it,  Brutus,  a  man  of  vehement  and  unbend- 
ing nature,  rushed  into  the  forum,  there  proclaiming  his 
fellow-consul  to  be  a  traitor,  in  granting  subsidies  to  ty- 
ranny, and  supplies  for  a  war  to  those  to  whom  it  was 
monstrous  to  allow  so  much  as  subsistence  in  exile.  This 
caused  an  assembly  of  the  citizens,  amongst  whom  the 
first  that  spake  was  Caius  Minucius,  a  private  man,  who 
advised  Brutus,  and  urged  the  Romans,  to  keep  the  pro- 
perty, and  employ  it  against  the  tyrants,  rather  than  to 
remit  it  to  the  tyrants,  to  be  used  against  themselves. 
The  Romans,  however,  decided  that  whilst  they  enjoyed 
the  liberty  they  had  fought  for,  they  should  not  sacrifice 
peace  for  the  sake  of  money,  but  send  out  the  tyrants* 
property  after  them.  This  question,  however,  of  his  pra 
perty,  was  the  least  part  of  Tarquin's  design ;  the  demand 
sounded  the  feelings  of  the  people,  and  was  preparatory 
to  a  conspiracy  which  the  ambassadors  endeavored  to 
excite,  delaying  their  return,  under  pretence  of  selling 
some  of  the  goods  and  reserving  others  to  be  sent  away, 
till,  in  fine,  they  corrupted  two  of  the  most  eminent  fam- 
ilies in  Rome,  the  Aquillian,  which  had  three,  and  the 
VitelUan,  which  had  two  senators.  These  all  were,  by 
the  mother's  side,  nephews  to  Collatinus ;  besides  which 
Brutus  had  a  special  alliance  to  the  Vitellii  from  his  mar- 
riage with  their  sister,  by  whom  he  had  several  children ; 
two  of  whom,  of  their  own  age,  their  near  relations  and 
daily  companions,  the  Vitellii  seduced  to  join  in  the  plot, 
to  ally  themselves  to  the  great  house  and  royal  hopes  of 


206  POPLTCOLA. 

the  Tarquins,  and  gain  emancipation  from  the  violence 
and  imbecility  united  of  their  father,  whose  austerity  to 
offenders  they  termed  violence,  while  the  imbecility  which 
ne  had  long  feigned,  to  protect  himself  from  the  tyrants, 
still,  it  appears,  was,  in  name  at  least,  ascribed  to  him. 
When  upon  these  inducements  the  youths  came  to  confer 
with  the  Aquillii,  all  thought  it  convenient  to  bind  them- 
selves in  a  solemn  and  dreadful  oath,  by  tasting  the  blood 
of  a  murdered  man,  and  touching  his  entrails.  For  which 
design  they  met  at  the  house  of  the  Aquillii.  The  build- 
ing chosen  for  the  transaction  was,  as  was  natural,  dark 
and  unfrequented,  and  a  slave  named  Vindicius  had,  as  it 
chanced,  concealed  himself  there,  not  out  of  design  or 
any  intelligence  of  the  affair,  but,  accidentally  being  with- 
in, seeing  with  how  much  haste  and  concern  they  came 
in,  he  was  afraid  to  be  discovered,  and  placed  himself  be- 
hind a  chest,  where  he  was  able  to  observe  their  actions 
and  overhear  their  debates.  Their  resolutions  were  to 
kill  the  consuls,  and  they  wrote  letters  to  Tarquin  to  this 
effect,  and  gave  them  to  the  ambassadors,  who  were  lodg- 
ing upon  the  spot  with  the  Aquillii,  and  were  present  at 
the  consultation. 

Upon  their  departure,  Vindicius  secretly  quitted  the 
house,  but  was  at  a  loss  what  to  do  in  the  matter,  for  to 
arraign  the  sons  before  the  father  Brutus,  or  the  nephews 
before  the  uncle  Collatinus,  seemed  equally  (as  indeed  it 
was)  shocking ;  yet  he  knew  no  priva  te  Roman  to  whom 
he  could  intrust  secrets  of  such  importance.  Unable,  how- 
ever, to  keep  silence,  and  burdened  with  his  knowledge, 
he  went  and  addressed  himself  to  Valerius,  whose  known 
freedom  and  kindness  of  temper  were  an  inducement ;  as 
he  was  a  person  to  whom  the  needy  had  easy  access,  and 
who  never  shut  his  gates  against  the  petitions  or  indi- 
gences of  humble  people.  But  when  Vindicius  came  and 
made  a  complete  discovery  to  him,  his  brother  Marcus 


POPLICOLA.  207 

and  his  own  wife  being  present,  Valerius  was  struck  with 
amazement,  and  by  no  means  wOuld  dismiss  the  discov- 
erer, but  confined  him  to  the  room,  and  placed  his  wife 
as  a  guard  to  the  door,  sending  his  brother  in  the  interim 
to  beset  the  king's  palace,  and  seize,  if  possible,  the  wri- 
tings there,  and  secure  the  domestics,  whilst  he,  with  his 
constant  attendance  of  clients  and  friends,  and  a  great 
retinue  of  attendants,  repaired  to  the  house  of  the  Aquil- 
lii,  who  were,  as  it  chanced,  absent  from  home ;  and  so, 
forcing  an  entrance  through  the  gates,  they  lit  upon  the 
letters  then  lying  in  the  lodgings  of  the  ambassadors. 
Meantime  the  Aquillii  returned  in  all  haste,  and,  coming 
to  blows  about  the  gate,  endeavored  a  recovery  of  the 
letters.  The  other  party  made  a  resistance,  and,  throwing 
their  gowns  round  their  opponents'  necks,  at  last,  after 
much  struggling  on  both  sides,  made  their  way  with  their 
prisoners  through  the  streets  into  the  forum.  The  like  en- 
gagement happened  about  the  king's  palace,  where  Mar- 
cus seized  some  other  letters  which  it  was  designed  should 
be  conveyed  away  in  the  goods,  and,  laying  hands  on  such 
of  the  king's  people  as  he  could  find,  dragged  them  also 
into  the  forum.  When  the  consuls  had  quieted  the 
tumult,  Vindicius  was  brought  out  by  the  orders  of  Va- 
lerius, and  the  accusation  stated,  and  the  letters  were 
opened,  to  which  the  traitors  could  make  no  plea.  Most 
of  the  people  standing  mute  and  sorrowful,  some  only, 
out  of  kindness  to  Brutus,  mentioning  banishment,  the 
tears  of  Collatinus,  attended  with  Valerius's  silence,  gave 
some  hopes  of  mercy.  But  Brutus,  calling  his  two  sons 
by  their  names,  "  Canst  not  thou,"  said  he,  "  0  Titus,  or 
thou,  Tiberius,  make  any  defence  against  the  indictment  ?" 
The  question  being  thrice  proposed,  and  no  reply  made, 
he  turned  himself  to  the  lictors,  and  cried,  "  What  remains 
is  your  duty."  They  immediately  seized  the  youths,  and, 
stripping  them  of  their  clothes,  bound  their  hands  behind 


208  POPLICOLA. 

them,  and  scourged  their  bodies  with  their  rods  ;  too  tra- 
gical a  scene  for  others  to  look  at ;  Brutus,  however,  is 
said  not  to  have  turned  aside  his  face,  nor  allowed  the 
least  glance  of  pity  to  soften  and  smoothe  his  aspect  of 
rigor  and  austerity ;  but  sternly  watched  his  children 
suffer,  even  till  the  hctors,  extending  them  on  the  ground, 
cut  off  their  heads  with  an  axe  ;  then  departed,  commit- 
ting the  rest  to  the  judgment  of  his  colleague.  An  action 
truly  open  alike  to  the  highest  commendation  and  the 
strongest  censure  ;  for  either  the  greatness  of  his  virtue 
raised  him  above  the  impressions  of  sorrow,  or  the  ex- 
travagance of  his  misery  took  away  all  sense  of  it ;  but 
neither  seemed  common,  or  the  result  of  humanity,  but 
either  divine  or  brutish.  Yet  it  is  more  reasonable  that 
our  judgment  should  yield  to  his  reputation,  than  that 
his  merit  should  suffer  detraction  by  the  weakness  of  our 
judgment ;  in  the  Romans'  opinion,  Brutus  did  a  greater 
work  in  the  establishment  of  the  government  than  Rom- 
ulus in  the  foundation  of  the  city. 

Upon  Brutus's  departure  out  of  the  forum,  consterna- 
tion, horror,  and  silence  for  some  time  possessed  all  that 
reflected  on  what  was  done  ;  the  easiness  and  tardiness, 
however,  of  Collatinus,  gave  confidence  to  the  AquilHi  to 
request  some  time  to  answer  their  charge,  and  that  Vin- 
dicius,  their  servant,  should  be  remitted  into  their  hands, 
and  no  longer  harbored  amongst  their  accusers.  The 
consul  seemed  inclined  to  their  proposal,  and  was  pro- 
ceeding to  dissolve  the  assembly  ;  but  Valerius  would  not 
suffer  Vindicius,  who  was  surrounded  by  his  people,  to  be 
surrendered,  nor  the  meeting  to  withdraw  without  pun- 
ishing the  traitors  ;  and  at  length  laid  violent  hands  upon 
the  Aquillii,  and,  calling  Brutus  to  his  assistance,  ex- 
claimed against  the  unreasonable  course  of  Collatinus,  to 
impose  upon  his  colleague  the  necessity  of  taking  away 
the  lives  of  his  own  sons,  and  yet  have  thoughts  of  grati- 


POPLICOLA.  209 

fying  some  women  with  the  lives  of  traitors  and  pubhc 
enemies.  CoUatinus,  displeased  at  this,  and  commanding 
Vindicius  to  be  taken  away,  the  lictors  made  their  way 
through  the  crowd  and  seized  their  man,  and  struck  all 
who  endeavored  a  rescue.  Valerius's  friends  headed  the 
resistance,  and  the  people  cried  out  for  Brutus,  who,  return- 
ing, on  silence  being  made,  told  them  he  had  been  compe- 
tent to  pass  sentence  by  himself  upon  his  own  sons,  but  left 
the  rest  to  the  suffrages  of  the  free  citizens :  "  Let  every 
man  speak  that  wishes,  and  persuade  whom  he  can." 
But  there  was  no  need  of  oratory,  for,  it  being  referred  to 
the  vote,  they  were  returned  condemned  by  all  the  suf- 
frages, and  were  accordingly  beheaded. 

Collatinus's  relationship  to  the  kings  had,  indeed,  al- 
ready rendered  him  suspicious,  and  his  second  name,  too, 
had  made  him  obnoxious  to  the  people,  who  were  loth 
to  hear  the  very  sound  of  Tarquin ;  but  after  this  had 
happened,  perceiving  himself  an  offence  to  every  one,  he 
relinquished  his  charge  and  departed  from  the  city.  At 
the  new  elections  in  his  room,  Valerius  obtained,  with 
high  honor,  the  consulship,  as  a  just  reward  of  his  zeal; 
of  which  he  thought  Vindicius  deserved  a  share,  whom 
he  made,  first  of  all  freedmen,  a  citizen  of  Rome,  and 
gave  him  the  privilege  of  voting  in  what  tribe  soever  he 
was  pleased  to  be  enrolled ;  other  freedmen  received  the 
right  of  suffrage  a  long  time  after  from  Appius,  who  thus 
courted  popularity ;  and  from  this  Vindicius,  a  perfect 
manumission  is  called  to  this  day  vindida.  This  done, 
the  goods  of  the  kings  were  exposed  to  plunder,  and  the 
palace  to  ruin. 

The  pleasantest  part  of  the  field  of  Mars,  which  Tar- 
quin had  owned,  was  devoted  to  the  service  of  that 
god ;  but,  it  happening  to  be  harvest  season,  and  the 
sheaves  yet  being  on  the  ground,  they  thought  it  not 
proper  to  commit  them  to  the  fiail,  or  unsanctily  them 

VOL.  I.  14 


210  POPLICOLA. 

with  any  use ;  and,  therefore,  carrying  them  to  the  river- 
side, and  trees  withal  that  were  cut  down,  they  cast  all 
into  the  water,  dedicating  the  soil,  free  from  all  occupa- 
tion, to  the  deity.  Now,  these  thrown  in,  one  upon 
another,  and  closing  together,  the  stream  did  not  bear 
them  far,  but  where  the  first  were  carried  down  and 
came  to  a  bottom,  the  remainder,  finding  no  farther  con- 
veyance, were  stopped  and  interwoven  one  with  another ; 
the  stream  working  the  mass  into  a  firmness,  and  wash- 
ing down  fresh  mud.  This,  settling  there,  became  an 
accession  of  matter,  as  well  as  cement,  to  the  rubbish,  in- 
somuch that  the  violence  of  the  waters  could  not  remove 
it,  but  forced  and  compressed  it  all  together.  Thus  its  bulk 
and  solidity  gained  it  new  subsidies,  which  gave  it  exten- 
sion enough  to  stop  on  its  way  most  of  what  the  stream 
brought  down.  This  is  now  a  sacred  island,  lying  by  the 
city,  adorned  with  temples  of  the  gods,  and  walks,  and  is 
called  in  the  Latin  tongue  inter  duos  pontes.  Though  some 
say  this  did  not  happen  at  the  dedication  of  Tarquin's 
field,  but  in  after-times,  when  Tarquinia,  a  vestal  priest- 
ess, gave  an  adjacent  field  to  the  public,  and  obtained 
great  honors  in  consequence,  as,  amongst  the  rest,  that  of 
all  women  her  testimony  alone  should  be  received ;  she 
had  also  the  liberty  to  marry,  but  refused  it;  thus  some 
tell  the  story. 

Tarquin,  despairing  of  a  return  to  his  kingdom  by  the 
conspiracy,  found  a  kind  reception  amongst  the  Tuscans, 
who,  with  a  great  army,  proceeded  to  restore  him.  The 
consuls  headed  the  Eomans  against  them,  and  made  their 
rendezvous  in  certain  holy  places,  the  one  called  the 
Arsian  grove,  the  other  the  iEsuvian  meadow.  When 
they  came  into  action,  Aruns,  the  son  of  Tarquin,  and 
Brutus,  the  Roman  consul,  not  accidentally  encountering 
each  other,  but  out  of  hatred  and  rage,  the  one  to  avenge 
tyranny  and  enmity  to  his  country,  the  other  his  banish- 


POPLICOLA.  211 

ment,  set  spurs  to  their  horses,  and,  engaging  with  more 
fury  than  forethought,  disregarding  their  own  security, 
fell  together  in  the  combat.  This  dreadful  onset  hardly 
was  followed  by  a  more  favorable  end ;  both  armies, 
doing  and  receiving  equal  damage,  were  separated  by  a 
storm.  Valerius  was  much  concerned,  not  knowing  what 
the  result  of  the  day  was,  and  seeing  his  men  as  well  dis- 
mayed at  the  sight  of  their  own  dead,  as  rejoiced  at  the 
loss  of  the  enemy ;  so  apparently  equal  in  the  number 
was  the  slaughter  on  either  side.  Each  party,  however, 
felt  surer  of  defeat  from  the  actual  sight  of  their  own 
dead,  than  they  could  feel  of  victory  from  conjecture 
about  those  of  their  adversaries.  The  nio-ht  beino;  come 
(and  such  as  one  may  presume  must  follow  such  a  bat- 
tle), and  the  armies  laid  to  rest,  they  say  that  the  grove 
shook,  and  uttered  a  voice,  saying  that  the  Tuscans  had 
lost  one  man  more  than  the  Romans ;  clearly  a  divine  an- 
nouncement ;  and  the  Romans  at  once  received  it  with 
shouts  and  expressions  of  joy ;  whilst  the  Tuscans,  through 
fear  and  amazement,  deserted  their  tents,  and  were  for 
the  most  part  dispersed.  The  Romans,  falling  upon  the 
remainder,  amounting  to  nearly  five  thousand,  took  them 
prisoners,  and  plundered  the  camp  ;  when  they  numbered 
the  dead,  they  found  on  the  Tuscans'  side  eleven  thousand 
and  three  hundred,  exceeding  their  own  loss  but  by  one 
man.  This  fight  happened  upon  the  last  day  of  Feb- 
ruary, and  Valerius  triumphed  in  honor  of  it,  being 
the  first  consul  that  drove  in  with  a  four-horse  chariot ; 
which  sight  both  appeared  magnificent,  and  was  received 
with  an  admiration  free  from  envy  or  offence  (as  some 
suggest)  on  the  part  of  the  spectators ;  it  would  not 
otherwise  have  been  continued  with  so  much  eagerness 
and  emulation  through  all  the  after  ages.  The  people 
applauded  likewise  the  honors  he  did  to  his  colleague,  in 
adding  to  his  obsequies  a  funeral  oration ;  which  was  so 


212  POPLICOLA. 

much  liked  by  the  Romans,  and  found  so  good  a  recep- 
tion, that  it  became  customary  for  the  best  men  to  cele- 
brate the  funerals  of  great  citizens  with  speeches  in  their 
commendation ;  and  their  antiquity  in  Rome  is  affirmed 
to  be  greater  than  in  Greece,  unless,  with  the  orator 
Anaximenes,  we  make  Solon  the  first  author. 

Yet  some  part  of  Valerius's  behavior  did  give  offence 
and  disgust  to  the  people,  because  Brutus,  whom  they 
esteemed  the  father  of  their  liberty,  had  not  presumed 
to  rule  without  a  colleague,  but  united  one  and  then 
another  to  him  in  his  commission ;  while  Valerius,  they 
said,  centering  all  authority  in  himself,  seemed  not  in 
any  sense  a  successor  to  Brutus  in  the  consulship,  but  to 
Tarquin  in  the  tyranny;  he  might  make  verbal  ha- 
rangues to  Brutus's  memory,  yet,  when  he  was  attended 
with  all  the  rods  and  axes,  proceeding  down  from  a 
house  than  which  the  king's  house  that  he  had  demo- 
lished had  not  been  statelier,  those  actions  showed 
him  an  imitator  of  Tarquin.  For,  indeed,  his  dwelling- 
house  on  the  Velia  was  somewhat  imposing  in  appearance, 
hanging  over  the  forum,  and  overlooking  all  transactions 
there ;  tlie  access  to  it  was  hard,  and  to  see  him  far  off 
coming  down,  a  stately  and  royal  spectacle.  But  Vale- 
rius showed  how  well  it  were  for  men  in  power  and  great 
offices  to  have  ears  that  give  admittance  to  truth  before 
flattery;  for  upon  his  friends  telling  him  that  he  dis- 
pleased the  people,  he  contended  not,  neither  resented  it, 
but  while  it  was  still  night,  sending  for  a  number  of  work- 
people, pulled  down  his  house  and  levelled  it  with  the 
ground;  so  that  in  the  morning  the  people,  seeing  and  flock- 
ing together,  expressed  their  wonder  and  their  respect  for 
his  magnanimity,  and  their  sorrow,  as  though  it  had  been 
a  human  being,  for  the  large  and  beautiful  house  which 
was  thus  lost  to  them  by  an  unfounded  jealousy,  while 
its  owner,  their  consul,  without  a  roof  of  his  own,  had 


POPLICOLA.  213 

to  beg  a  lodging  with  his  friends.  For  his  friends  received 
him,  till  a  place  the  people  gave  him  was  furnished  with 
a  house,  though  less  stately  than  his  own,  where  now 
stands  the  temple,  as  it  is  called,  of  Vica  Pota. 

He  resolved  to  render  the  government,  as  well  as  him- 
self, instead  of  terrible,  familiar  and  pleasant  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  parted  the  axes  from  the  rods,  and  always,  upon 
his  entrance  into  the  assembly,  lowered  these  also  to  the 
people,  to  show,  in  the  strongest  way,  the  republican 
foundation  of  the  government ;  and  this  the  consuls  ob- 
serve to  this  day.  But  the  humility  of  the  man  was  but 
a  means,  not,  as  they  thought,  of  lessening  himself,  but 
merely  to  abate  their  envy  by  this  moderation ;  for  what- 
ever he  detracted  from  his  authority  he  added  to  his  real 
power,  the  people  still  submitting  with  satisfaction,  which 
they  expressed  by  calling  him  Poplicola,  or  people-lover, 
which  name  had  the  preeminence  of  the  rest,  and,  there- 
fore, in  the  sequel  of  this  narrative  w  ^  shall  use  no  other. 

He  gave  free  leave  to  any  to  sue  for  the  consulship ; 
but  before  the  admittance  of  a  colleague,  mistrusting 
the  chances,  lest  emulation  or  ignorance  should  cross  his 
designs,  by  his  sole  authority  enacted  his  best  and  most 
important  measures.  First,  he  supplied  the  vacancies  of 
the  senators,  whom  either  Tarquin  long  before  had  put 
to  death,  or  the  war  lately  cut  off;  those  that  he  enrolled, 
they  write,  amounted  to  a  hundred  and  sixty-four ;  after- 
wards he  made  several  laws  which  added  much  to  the 
people's  liberty,  in  particular  one  granting  offenders  the 
liberty  of  appealing  to  the  people  from  the  judgment  of 
the  consuls ;  a  second,  that  made  it  death  to  usurp  any 
magistracy  w^ithout  the  people's  consent;  a  third,  for 
the  relief  of  poor  citizens,  which,  taking  off  their  taxes, 
encouraged  their  labors;  another,  against  disobedience 
to  the  consuls,  which  was  no  less  popular  than  the  rest, 
and  rather  to  the  benefit  of  the  commonalty  than  to  the 


214  POPLICOLA. 

advantage  of  the  nobles,  for  it  imposed  upon  disobedience 
the  penalty  of  ten  oxen  and  two  sheep ;  the  price  of  a 
sheep  being  ten  obols,  of  an  ox,  an  hundred.  For  the  use 
of  money  was  then  infrequent  amongst  the  Romans,  but 
their  wealth  in  cattle  great ;  even  now  pieces  of  property 
are  called  peculia,  from  pecus,  cattle ;  and  they  had  stamped 
upon  their  most  ancient  money  an  ox,  a  sheep,  or  a  hog; 
and  surnamed  their  sons  Suillii,  Bubulci,  Caprarii,  and 
Porcii,  from  caprce,  goats,  and  porei,  hogs. 

Amidst  this  mildness  and  moderation,  for  one  excessive 
fault  he  instituted  one  excessive  punishment;  for  he 
made  it  lawful  without  trial  to  take  away  any  man's  life 
that  aspired  to  a  tyranny,  and  acquitted  the  slayer,  if  he 
produced  evidence  of  the  crime;  for  though  it  was 
not  probable  for  a  man,  whose  designs  were  so  great,  to 
escape  all  notice ;  yet  because  it  was  possible  he  might, 
although  observed,  by  force  anticipate  judgment,  which 
the  usurpation  itself  would  then  preclude,  he  gave  a 
license  to  any  to  anticipate  the  usurper.  He  was  honored 
likewise  for  the  law  touching  the  treasury ;  for  because  it 
was  necessary  for  the  citizens  to  contribute  out  of  their 
estates  to  the  maintenance  of  wars,  and  he  was  unwilling 
himself  to  be  concerned  in  the  care  of  it,  or  to  permit 
his  friends,  or  indeed  to  let  the  public  money  pass  into 
any  private  house,  he  allotted  the  temple  of  Saturn  for 
the  treasury,  in  which  to  this  day  they  deposit  the  tribute- 
money,  and  granted  the  people  the  liberty  of  choosing 
two  young  men  as  quaestors,  or  treasurers.  The  first  were 
Publius  Yeturius  and  Marcus  Minucius ;  and  a  large  sum 
was  collected,  for  they  assessed  one  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand,  excusing  orphans  and  widows  from  the  payment. 
After  these  dispositions,  he  admitted  Lucretius,  the  father 
of  Lucretia,  as  his  colleague,  and  gave  him  the  precedence 
in  the  government,  by  resigning  the  fasces  to  him,  as  due 
to  his  years,  which  privilege  of  seniority  continued  to 


POPLICOLA.  215 

our  time.  But  within  a  few  days  Lucretius  died,  and  in 
a  new  election  Marcus  Horatius  succeeded  in  that  honor, 
and  continued  consul  for  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

Now,  whilst  Tarquin  was  making  preparations  in  Tus- 
cany for  a  second  war  against  the  Romans,  it  is  said  a 
great  portent  occurred.  When  Tarquin  was  king,  and 
bad  all  but  completed  the  buildings  of  the  Capitol,  design- 
ing, whether  from  oracular  advice  or  his  own  pleasure,  to 
erect  an  earthen  chariot  upon  the  top,  he  intrusted  the 
workmanship  to  Tuscans  of  the  city  Yeii,  but  soon  after 
lost  his  kingdom.  The  work  thus  modelled,  the  Tuscans 
set  in  a  furnace,  but  the  clay  showed  not  those  passive 
qualities  which  usually  attend  its  nature,  to  subside  and 
be  condensed  upon  the  evaporation  of  the  moisture,  but 
rose  and  swelled  out  to  that  bulk,  that,  when  solid  and 
firm,  notwithstanding  the  removal  of  the  roof  and  open- 
ing the  walls  of  the  furnace,  it  could  not  be  taken  out 
without  much  difficulty.  The  soothsayers  looked  upon 
this  as  a  divine  prognostic  of  success  and  power  to  those 
that  should  possess  it ;  and  the  Tuscans  resolved  not  to 
deliver  it  to  the  Romans,  who  demanded  it,  but  answered 
that  it  rather  belonged  to  Tarquin  than  to  those  who  had 
sent  him  into  exile.  A  few  days  after,  they  had  a  horse- 
race there,  with  the  usual  shows  and  solemnities,  and  as 
the  charioteer,  with  his  garland  on  his  head,  was  quietly 
driving  the  victorious  chariot  out  of  the  ring,  the  horses, 
upon  no  apparent  occasion,  taking  fright,  either  by  divine 
instigation  or  by  accident,  hurried  away  their  driver  at 
full  speed  to  Rome ;  neither  did  his  holding  them  in  pre- 
vail, nor  his  voice,  but  he  was  forced  along  with  violence 
till,  coming  to  the  Capitol,  he  was  thrown  out  by  the  gate 
called  Ratumena.  This  occurrence  raised  wonder  and  fear 
in  the  Veientines,  who  now  permitted  the  delivery  of  the 
chariot. 

The  building  of  the  temple  of  the  Capitoline  Jupiter 


216  POPLICOLA. 

had  been  vowed  by  Tarquin,  the  son  of  Demaratus,  when 
warring  with  the  Sabines ;  Tarquinius  Superbus,  his  son  or 
grandson,  built,  but  could  not  dedicate  it,  because  he  lost 
his  kingdom  before  it  was  quite  finished.  And  now  that 
it  was  completed  with  all  its  ornaments,  Poplicola  was 
ambitious  to  dedicate  it ;  but  the  nobility  envied  him  that 
honor,  as,  indeed,  also,  in  some  degree,  those  his  prudence 
in  making  laws  and  conduct  in  wars  entitled  him  to. 
Grudging  him,  at  any  rate,  the  addition  of  this,  they  urged 
Horatius  to  sue  for  the  dedication,  and,  whilst  Poplicola 
was  engaged  in  some  military  expedition,  voted  it  to 
Horatius,  and  conducted  him  to  the  Capitol,  as  though, 
were  Poplicola  present,  they  could  not  have  carried  it. 
Yet,  some  write,  Poplicola  was  by  lot  destined  against  his 
will  to  the  expedition,  the  other  to  the  dedication ;  and 
what  happened  in  the  performance  seems  to  intimate 
some  ground  for  this  conjecture ;  for,  upon  the  Ides  of 
September,  which  happens  about  the  full  moon  of  the 
month  Metagitnion,  the  people  having  assembled  at  the 
Capitol  and  silence  being  enjoined,  Horatius,  after  the 
performance  of  other  ceremonies,  holding  the  doors,  ac- 
cording to  custom,  was  proceeding  to  pronounce  the 
words  of  dedication,  when  Marcus,  the  brother  of  Popli- 
cola, who  had  got  a  place  on  purpose  beforehand  near  the 
door,  observing  his  opportunity,  cried,  "  0  consul,  thy  son 
lies  dead  in  the  camp  ; "  which  made  a  great  impression 
upon  all  others  who  heard  it,  yet  in  nowise  discomposed 
Horatius,  who  returned  merely  the  reply,  "  Cast  the  dead 
out  whither  you  please ;  I  am  not  a  mourner ; "  and  so 
completed  the  dedication.  The  news  was  not  true,  but 
Marcus  thought  the  lie  might  avert  him  from  his  perform- 
ance ;  but  it  argues  him  a  man  of  wonderful  self-pos- 
session, whether  he  at  once  saw  through  the  cheat,  or, 
believing  it  as  true,  showed  no  discomposure. 

The  same  fortune  attended  the  dedication  of  the  second 


POPLICOLA.  217 

temple ;  the  first  as  has  been  said,  was  built  by  Tarquin, 
and  dedicated  by  Horatius ;  it  was  burnt  down  in  the  civil 
wars.  The  second,  Sylla  built,  and,  dying  before  the  dedi- 
cation, left  that  honor  to  Catulus;  and  w^hen  this  was 
demolished  in  the  Vitellian  sedition,  Vespasian,  with  the 
same  success  that  attended  him  in  other  things,  began  a 
third,  and  lived  to  see  it  finished,  but  did  not  live  to  see  it 
again  destroj^ed,  as  it  presently  was ;  but  was  as  fortunate 
in  dying  before  its  destruction,  as  Sylla  was  the  reverse 
in  dying  before  the  dedication  of  his.  For  immediately 
after  Vespasian's  death  it  was  consumed  by  fire.  The 
fourth,  which  now  exists,  was  both  built  and  dedicated  by 
Domitian.  It  is  said  Tarquin  expended  forty  thousand 
pounds  of  silver  in  the  very  foundations ;  but  the  whole 
wealth  of  the  richest  private  man  in  Eome  would  not 
discharge  the  cost  of  the  gilding  of  this  temple  in  our 
days,  it  amounting  to  above  twelve  thousand  talents; 
the  pillars  were  cut  out  of  Pentelican  marble,  of  a  length 
most  happily  proportioned  to  their  thickness ;  these  we 
saw  at  Athens ;  but  when  they  were  cut  anew  at  Rome 
and  polished,  they  did  not  gain  so  much  in  embellishment, 
as  they  lost  in  symmetry,  being  rendered  too  taper  and 
slender.  Should  any  one  who  wonders  at  the  costliness 
of  the  Capitol  visit  any  one  gallery  in  Domitian's  palace, 
or  hall,  or  bath,  or  the  apartments  of  his  concubines, 
Epicharmus's  remark  upon  the  prodigal,  that 

'T  is  not  beneficence,  but,  truth  to  say, 
A  mere  disease  of  giving  things  away, 

would  be  in  his  mouth  in  application  to  Domitian,  It  is 
neither  piety,  he  would  say,  nor  magnificence,  but,  indeed, 
a  mere  disease  of  building,  and  a  desire,  like  Midas,  of 
converting  every  thing  into  gold  or  stone.  And  thus 
much  for  this  matter. 

Tarquin,  after  the  great  battle  wherein  he  lost  his  son 


218  POPLICOLA. 

in  combat  with  Brutus,  fled  to  Clusium,  and  sought  aid 
from  Lars  Porsenna,  then  one  of  the  most  powerful 
princes  of  Italy,  and  a  man  of  worth  and  generosity; 
who  assured  him  of  assistance,  immediately  sending  his 
commands  to  Rome  that  they  should  receive  Tarquin  as 
their  king,  and,  upon  the  Romans'  refusal,  proclaimed 
war,  and,  having  signified  the  time  and  place  where  he 
intended  his  attack,  approached  with  a  great  army.  Po- 
plicola  was,  in  his  absence,  chosen  consul  a  second  time, 
and  Titus  Lucretius  his  colleague,  and,  returning  to  Rome, 
to  show  a  spirit  yet  loftier  than  Porsenna's,  built  the  city 
Sigliuria  *  when  Porsenna  was  already  in  the  neighbor- 
hood ;  and,  walling  it  at  great  expense,  there  placed  a 
colony  of  seven  hundred  men,  as  being  little  concerned 
at  the  war.  Nevertheless,  Porsenna,  making  a  sharp 
assault,  obliged  the  defendants  to  retire  to  Rome,  who 
had  almost  in  their  entrance  admitted  the  enemy  into 
the  city  with  them;  only  Poplicola  by  sallying  out  at 
the  gate  prevented  them,  and,  joining  battle  by  Tiber 
side,  opposed  the  enemy,  that  pressed  on  with  their  mul- 
titude, but  at  last,  sinking  under  desperate  wounds,  was 
carried  out  of  the  fight.  The  same  fortune  fell  upon 
Lucretius,  so  that  the  Romans,  being  dismayed,  retreated 
into  the  city  for  their  security,  and  Rome  was  in  great 
hazard  of  being  taken,  the  enemy  forcing  their  way  on 
to  the  wooden  bridge,  where  Horatius  Codes,  seconded 
by  two  of  the  first  men  in  Rome,  Herminius  and  Lartius, 
made  head  against  them.  Horatius  obtained  this  name 
from  the  loss  of  one  of  his  eyes  in  the  wars,  or,  as  others 
write,  from  the  depressure  of  his  nose,  which,  leaving 
nothing  in  the  middle  to  separate  them,  made  both  eyes 
appear  but  as  one ;  and  hence,  intending  to  say  Cyclops, 

*  No  such    city  is   heard  of  in     to   Livy,   was   founded   earlier   in 
any    other    author.      Possibly    it     the  reign  of  the  last  Tarquin. 
should  be  Signia,  which,  according 


POPLICOLA.  219 

by  a  mispronunciation  they  called  him  Codes.  This 
Codes  kept  the  bridge,  and  held  back  the  enemy,  till  his 
own  party  broke  it  down  behind,  and  then  with  his  armor 
dropped  into  the  river,  and  swam  to  the  hither  side,  with 
a  wound  in  his  hip  from  a  Tuscan  spear.  Poplicola,  ad- 
miring his  courage,  proposed  at  once  that  the  Romans 
should  every  one  make  him  a  present  of  a  day's  provi- 
sions, and  afterwards  gave  him  as  much  land  as  he  could 
plough  round  in  one  day,  and  besides  erected  a  brazen 
statue  to  his  honor  in  the  temple  of  Vulcan,  as  a  requital 
for  the  lameness  caused  by  his  wound. 

But  Porsenna  laying  close  siege  to  the  city,  and  a  fam- 
ine raging  amongst  the  Romans,  also  a  new  army  of  the 
Tuscans  making  incursions  into  the  country,  Poplicola,  a 
third  time  chosen  consul,  designed  to  make,  without  sally- 
ing out,  his  defence  against  Porsenna,  but,  privately  steal- 
ing forth  against  the  new  army  of  the  Tuscans,  put  them 
to  flight,  and  slew  five  thousand.  The  story  of  Mucins  is 
variously  given;  we,  like  others,  must  follow  the  com- 
monly received  statement  He  was  a  man  endowed  with 
every  virtue,  but  most  eminent  in  war ;  and,  resolving  to 
kill  Porsenna,  attired  himself  in  the  Tuscan  habit,  and, 
using  the  Tuscan  language,  came  to  the  camp,  and  ap- 
proaching the  seat  where  the  king  sat  amongst  his  nobles, 
but  not  certainly  knowing  the  king,  and  fearful  to  inquire, 
drew  out  his  sword,  and  stabbed  one  who  he  thought  had 
most  the  appearance  of  king.  Mucins  was  taken  in  the 
act,  and  whilst  he  was  under  examination,  a  pan  of  fire 
was  brought  to  the  king,  who  intended  to  sacrifice ;  Mu- 
cins thrust  his  right  hand  into  the  flame,  and  whilst  it 
burnt  stood  looking  at  Porsenna  with  a  steadfast  and  un- 
daunted countenance ;  Porsenna  at  last  in  admiration 
dismissed  him,  and  returned  his  sword,  reaching  it  from 
his  seat ;  Mucius  received  it  in  his  left  hand,  which  occa- 
sioned the  name  of  Scaevola,  left-handed,  and  said,  "  I  have 


220  POPLICOLA. 

overcome  the  terrors  of  Porsenna,  yet  am  vanquished  by 
his  generosity,  and  gratitude  obliges  me  to  disclose  what 
no  punishment  could  extort;"  and  assured  him  then, 
that  three  hundred  Romans,  all  of  the  same  resolution, 
lurked  about  his  camp,  only  waiting  for  an  opportunity ; 
he,  by  lot  appointed  to  the  enterprise,  was  not  sorry  that 
he  had  miscarried  in  it,  because  so  brave  and  good  a  man 
deserved  rather  to  be  a  friend  to  the  Romans  than  an 
enemy.  To  this  Porsenna  gave  credit,  and  thereupon 
expressed  an  inclination  to  a  truce,  not,  I  presume,  so 
much  out  of  fear  of  the  three  hundred  Romans,  as  in  ad- 
miration of  the  Roman  courage.  All  other  writers  call 
this  man  Mucins  Scsevola,  yet  Athenodorus,  son  of  San- 
don,  in  a  book  addressed  to  Octavia,  Caesar's  sister,  avers 
he  was  also  called  Postumus. 

Poplicola,  not  so  much  esteeming  Porsenna's  enmity 
dangerous  to  Rome  as  his  friendship  and  alliance  servicear 
ble,  was  induced  to  refer  the  controversy  with  Tarquin  to 
his  arbitration,  and  several  times  undertook  to  prove 
Tarquin  the  worst  of  men,  and  justly  deprived  of  his 
kingdom.  But  Tarquin  proudly  replied  he  would  admit 
no  judge,  much  less  Porsenna,  that  had  fallen  away  from 
his  engagements ;  and  Porsenna,  resenting  this  answer, 
and  mistrusting  the  equity  of  his  cause,  moved  also  by 
the  solicitations  of  his  son  Aruns,  who  was  earnest  for  the 
Roman  interest,  made  a  peace  on  these  conditions,  that 
they  should  resign  the  land  they  had  taken  from  the 
Tuscans,  and  restore  all  prisoners  and  receive  back  their 
deserters.  To  confirm  the  peace,  the  Romans  gave  as 
hostages  ten  sons  of  patrician  parents,  and  as  many 
daughters,  amongst  whom  was  Valeria,  the  daughter  of 
Poplicola. 

Upon  these  assurances,  Porsenna  ceased  from  all  acts 
of  hostility,  and  the  young  girls  went  down  to  the  river 
to  bathe,  at  that  part  where  the  winding  of  the  bank 


POPLICOLA.  221 

formed  a  bay  and  made  the  waters  stiller  and  quieter ; 
and,  seeing  no  guard,  nor  any  one  coming  or  going  over, 
they  were  encouraged  to  swim  over,  notwithstanding  the 
depth  and  violence  of  the  stream.  Some  affirm  that  one 
of  them,  by  name  Clcelia,  passing  over  on  horseback,  per- 
suaded the  rest  to  swim  after ;  but,  upon  their  safe  arrival, 
presenting  themselves  to  Poplicola,  he  neither  praised  nor 
approved  their  return,  but  was  concerned  lest  he  should 
appear  less  faithful  than  Porsenna,  and  this  boldness  in 
the  maidens  should  argue  treachery  in  the  Romans ;  so 
that,  apprehending  them,  he  sent  them  back  to  Porsenna. 
But  Tarquin's  men,  having  intelligence  of  this,  laid  a 
strong  ambuscade  on  the  other  side  for  those  that  con- 
ducted them ;  and  while  these  were  skirmishing  together, 
Valeria,  the  daughter  of  Poplicola,  rushed  through  the 
enemy  and  fled,  and  with  the  assistance  of  three  of  her 
attendants  made  good  her  escape,  whilst  the  rest  were 
dangerously  hedged  in  by  the  soldiers ;  but  Aruns,  Por- 
senna's  son,  upon  tidings  of  it,  hastened  to  their  rescue, 
and,  putting  the  enemy  to  flight,  delivered  the  Romans. 
When  Porsenna  saw  the  maidens  returned,  demanding 
who  was  the  author  and  adviser  of  the  act,  and  under- 
standing Cloelia  to  be  the  person,  he  looked  on  her  with 
a  cheerful  and  benignant  countenance,  and,  commanding 
one  of  his  horses  to  be  brought,  sumptuously  adorned, 
made  her  a  present  of  it.  This  is  produced  as  evidence 
by  those  who  affirm  that  only  Cloelia  passed  the  river  on 
horseback;  those  who  deny  it  call  it  only  the  honor 
the  Tuscan  did  to  her  courage;  a  figure,  however,  on 
horseback  stands  in  the  Via  Sacra,  as  you  go  to  the  Pala- 
tium,  which  some  say  is  the  statue  of  Cloelia,  others  of 
Valeria.  Porsenna,  thus  reconciled  to  the  Romans,  gave 
them  a  fresh  instance  of  his  generosity,  and  commanded 
his  soldiers  to  quit  the  camp  merely  with  their  arms, 
leaving  their  tents,  full  of  corn  and  other  stores,  as  a  gift 


222  POPLICOLA. 

to  the  Romans.  Hence,  even  down  to  our  time,  when 
there  is  a  public  sale  of  goods,  they  cry  Porsenna's  first,  by 
way  of  perpetual  commemoration  of  his  kindness.  There 
stood,  also,  by  the  senate-house,  a  brazen  statue  of  him,  of 
plain  and  antique  workmanship. 

Afterwards,  the  Sabines  making  incursions  upon  the  Ro- 
mans, Marcus  Valerius,  brother  to  Poplicola,  was  made  con- 
sul, and  with  him  Postumius  Tubertus.  Marcus,  through 
the  management  of  ajffairs  by  the  conduct  and  direct 
assistance  of  Poplicola,  obtained  two  great  victories,  in 
the  latter  of  which  he  slew  thirteen  thousand  Sabines 
without  the  loss  of  one  Roman,  and  was  honored,  as  an 
accession  to  his  triumph,  with  an  house  built  in  the  Pala- 
tium  at  the  public  charge ;  and  whereas  the  doors  of 
other  houses  opened  inward  into  the  house,  they  made 
this  to  open  outward  into  the  street,  to  intimate  their 
perpetual  public  recognition  of  his  merit  by  thus  contin- 
ually making  way  for  him.  The  same  fashion  in  their 
doors  the  Greeks,  they  say,  had  of  old  universally,  which 
appears  from  their  comedies,  where  those  that  are  going 
out  make  a  noise  at  the  door  within,  to  give  notice  to 
those  that  pass  by  or  stand  near  the  door,  that  the 
opening  the  door  into  the  street  might  occasion  no  sur- 
prisal. 

The  year  after,  Poplicola  was  made  consul  the  fourth 
time,  when  a  confederacy  of  the  Sabines  and  Latins 
threatened  a  war ;  a  superstitious  fear  also  overran  the 
city  on  the  occasion  of  general  miscarriages  of  their 
women,  no  single  birth  coming  to  its  due  time.  Popli- 
cola, upon  consultation  of  the  Sibylline  books,  sacrificing 
to  Pluto,  and  renewing  certain  games  commanded  by 
Apollo,  restored  the  city  to  more  cheerful  assurance  in 
the  gods,  and  then  prepared  against  the  menaces  of  men. 
There  were  appearances  of  great  preparation,  and  of  a 
formidable  confederacy.     Amongst  the  Sabines  there  was 


POPLICOLA.  223 

one  Appius  Clausus,  a  man  of  a  great  wealth  and  strength 
of  body,  but  most  eminent  for  his  high  character  and  for 
his  eloquence  ;  yet,  as  is  usually  the  late  of  great  men,  he 
could  not  escape  the  envy  of  others,  which  was  much 
occasioned  by  his  dissuading  the  war,  and  seeming  to  pro- 
mote the  Roman  interest,  with  a  view,  it  was  thought,  to 
obtaining  absolute  power  in  his  own  country  for  himself. 
Knowing  how  welcome  these  reports  would  be  to  the 
multitude,  and  how  offensive  to  the  army  and  the  abet- 
tors of  the  war,  he  was  afraid  to  stand  a  trial,  but,  hav- 
ing a  considerable  body  of  friends  and  allies  to  assist 
him,  raised  a  tumult  amongst  the  Sabines,  which  delayed 
the  war.  Neither  was  Poplicola  wanting,  not  only  to  un- 
derstand the  grounds  of  the  sedition,  but  to  promote  and 
increase  it,  and  he  despatched  emissaries  with  instructions 
to  Clausus,  that  Poplicola  was  assured  of  his  goodness 
and  justice,  and  thought  it  indeed  unworthy  in  any  man, 
however  injured,  to  seek  revenge  upon  his  fellow-citi- 
zens ;  yet  if  he  pleased,  for  his  own  security,  to  leave  his 
enemies  and  come  to  Rome,  he  should  be  received,  both 
in  public  and  private,  with  the  honor  his  merit  deserved, 
and  their  own  glory  required.  Appius,  seriously  weigh- 
ing the  matter,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  the 
best  resource  which  necessity  left  him,  and  advising 
with  his  friends,  and  they  inviting  again  others  in  the 
same  manner,  he  came  to  Rome,  bringing  five  thousand 
families,  with  their  wives  and  children;  people  of  the 
quietest  and  steadiest  temper  of  all  the  Sabines.  Popli- 
cola, informed  of  their  approach,  received  them  with  all 
the  kind  offices  of  a  friend,  and  admitted  them  at  once  to 
the  franchise,  allotting  to  every  one  two  acres  of  land  by 
the  river  Anio,  but  to  Clausus  twenty-five  acres,  and  gave 
him  a  place  in  the  senate ;  a  commencement  of  politi- 
cal power  which  he  used  so  wisely,  that  he  rose  to  the 


224  POPLICOLA. 

highest    reputation,  was   very    influential,   and   left   the 
Claudian  house  behind  hira,  inferior  to  none  in  Rome. 

The  departure  of  these  men  rendered  things  quiet 
amongst  the  Sabines;  yet  the  chief  of  the  community 
would  not  suffer  them  to  settle  into  peace,  but  resented 
that  Clausus  now,  by  turning  deserter,  should  disappoint 
that  revenge  upon  the  Romans,  which,  while  at  home,  he 
had  unsuccessfully  opposed.  Coming  with  a  great  army, 
they  sat  down  before  Fidenge,  and  placed  an  ambuscade 
of  two  thousand  men  near  Rome,  in  wooded  and  hollow 
spots,  with  a  design  that  some  few  horsemen,  as  soon  as 
it  was  day,  should  go  out  and  ravage  the  country,  com- 
manding them  upon  their  approach  to  the  town  so  to 
retreat  as  to  draw  the  enemy  into  the  ambush.  Poplicola, 
iiowever,  soon  advertised  of  these  designs  by  deserters, 
disposed  his  forces  to  their  respective  charges.  Postu- 
mius  Balbus,  his  son-in-law,  going  out  with  three  thou- 
sand men  in  the  evening,  was  ordered  to  take  the  hills, 
under  which  the  ambush  lay,  there  to  observe  their  mo- 
tions ;  his  colleague,  Lucretius,  attended  with  a  body  of 
the  lightest  and  boldest  men,  was  appointed  to  meet  the 
Sabine  horse ;  whilst  he,  with  the  rest  of  the  army, 
encompassed  the  enemy.  And  a  thick  mist  rising  acciden- 
tally, Postumius,  early  in  the  morning,  with  shouts  from 
the  hills,  assailed  the  ambuscade,  Lucretius  charged  the 
light-horse,  and  Poplicola  besieged  the  camp ;  so  that  on 
all  sides  defeat  and  ruin  came  upon  the  Sabines,  and 
without  any  resistance  the  Romans  killed  them  in  their 
flight,  their  very  hopes  leading  them  to  their  death,  for 
each  division,  presuming  that  the  other  was  safe,  gave  up 
all  thought  of  fighting  or  keeping  their  ground ;  and  these 
quitting  the  camp  to  retire  to  the  ambuscade,  and  the 
ambuscade  flying  to  the  camp,  fugitives  thus  met  fugi- 
tives, and  found  those  from  whom  they  expected  succor 


POPLICOLA.  225 

as  much  in  need  of  succor  from  themselves.  The  near- 
ness, however,  of  the  city  Fidenoe  was  the  preservation 
of  the  Sabines,  especially  those  that  fled  from  the  camp ; 
those  that  could  not  gain  the  city  either  perished  in  the 
field,  or  were  taken  prisoners.  This  victory,  the  Romans, 
though  usually  ascribing  such  success  to  some  god,  attrib- 
uted to  the  conduct  of  one  captain  ;  and  it  was  observed 
to  be  heard  amongst  the  soldiers,  that  Poplicola  had  de- 
livered their  enemies  lame  and  blind,  and  only  not  in 
chains,  to  be  despatched  by  their  swords.  From  the  spoil 
and  prisoners  great  wealth  accrued  to  the  people. 

Poplicola,  having  completed  his  triumph,  and  bequeathed 
the  city  to  the  care  of  the  succeeding  consuls,  died ;  thus 
closing  a  life  which,  so  far  as  human  life  may  be,  had 
been  full  of  all  that  is  good  and  honorable.  The  people, 
as  though  they  had  not  duly  rewarded  his  deserts  when 
alive,  but  still  were  in  his  debt,  decreed  him  a  public 
interment,  every  one  contributing  his  quadrans  towards  the 
charge  ;  the  women,  besides,  by  private  consent,  mourned 
a  whole  year,  a  signal  mark  of  honor  to  his  memory. 
He  was  buried,  by  the  people's  desire,  within  the  city,  in 
the  part  called  Velia,  where  his  posterity  had  likewise 
privilege  of  burial ;  now,  however,  none  of  the  family  are 
interred  there,  but  the  body  is  carried  thither  and  set 
down,  and  some  one  places  a  burning  torch  under  it,  and 
immediately  takes  it  away,  as  an  attestation  of  the  de- 
ceased's privilege,  and  his  receding  from  his  honor ;  after 
which  the  body  is  removed. 
VOL.   L  15 


COMPARISON  OF  POPLICOLA  WITH  SOLON. 


There  is  something  singular  in  the  present  parallel, 
which  has  not  occurred  in  any  other  of  the  lives ;  that 
the  one  should  be  the  imitator  of  the  other,  and  the  other 
his  best  evidence.  Upon  the  survey  of  Solon's  sentence 
to  Croesus  in  favor  of  Tellus's  happiness,  it  seems  more 
applicable  to  Poplicola;  for  Tellus,  whose  virtuous  life 
and  dying  well  had  gained  him  the  name  of  the  happiest 
man,  yet  was  never  celebrated  in  Solon's  poems  for  a 
good  man,  nor  have  his  children  or  any  magistracy  of  his 
deserved  a  memorial;  but  Poplicola's  life  was  the  most 
eminent  amongst  the  Romans,  as  well  for  the  greatness 
of  his  virtue  as  his  power,  and  also  since  his  death 
many  amongst  the  distinguished  families,  even  in  our 
days,  the  Poplicolae,  Messalae,  and  Yalerii,  after  a  lapse 
of  six  hundred  years,  acknowledge  him  as  the  foun- 
tain of  their  honor.  Besides,  Tellus,  though  keeping  his 
post  and  lighting  like  a  valiant  soldier,  was  yet  slain  by 
his  enemies ;  but  Poplicola,  the  better  fortune,  slew  his, 
and  saw  his  country  victorious  under  his  command.  And 
his  honors  and  triumphs  brought  him,  which  was  Solon's 
ambition,  to  a  happy  end ;  the  ejaculation  which,  in  his 
verses  ap-ainst  Mimnermus  about  the  continuance  of  man's 
life,  he  himself  made, 

Mourned  let  me  die  ;  and  may  I,  when  life  ends, 
Occasion  sighs  and  sorrows  to  my  friends, 

is  evidence  to  Poplicola's  happiness;  his  death  did  not 

( 226  ) 


POPLICOLA  AND   SOLON.  227 

only  draw  tears  from  his  friends  and  acquaintance,  but 
was  the  object  of  universal  regret  and  sorrow  through  the 
whole  city;  the  women  deplored  his  loss  as  that  of  a 
son.  brother,  or  common  father.  "Wealth  I  would  have," 
said  Solon,  "but  wealth  by  wrong  procure  would  not," 
because  punishment  would  follow.  But  Poplicola's  riches 
were  not  only  justly  his,  but  he  spent  them  nobly  in 
doing  good  to  the  distressed.  So  that  if  Solon  was 
reputed  the  wisest  man,  we  must  allow  Poplicola  to  be 
the  happiest ;  for  what  Solon  wished  for  as  the  greatest 
and  most  perfect  good,  this  Poplicola  had,  and  used  and 
enjoyed  to  his  death. 

And  as  Solon  may  thus  be  said  to  have  contributed 
to  Poplicola's  glory,  so  did  also  Poplicola  to  his,  by  his 
choice  of  him  as  his  model  in  the  formation  of  repub- 
lican institutions ;  in  reducing,  for  example,  the  exces- 
sive powers  and  assumption  of  the  consulship.  Several  of 
his  laws,  indeed,  he  actually  transferred  to  Rome,  as  his 
empowering  the  people  to  elect  their  officers,  and  allow- 
ing offenders  the  liberty  of  appealing  to  the  people,  as 
Solon  did  to  the  jurors.  He  did  not,  indeed,  create  a  new 
senate,  as  Solon  did,  but  augmented  the  old  to  almost 
double  its  number.  The  appointment  of  treasurers  again, 
the  qusBstors,  has  a  like  origin ;  with  the  intent  that  the 
chief  magistrate  should  not,  if  of  good  character,  be  with- 
drawn from  greater  matters ;  or,  if  bad,  have  the  greater 
temptation  to  injustice,  by  holding  both  the  government 
and  treasury  in  his  hands.  The  aversion  to  tyranny  was 
stronger  in  Poplicola ;  any  one  who  attempted  usurpation 
could,  by  Solon's  law,  only  be  punished  upon  conviction ; 
but  Poplicola  made  it  death  before  a  trial.  And  though 
Solon  justly  gloried,  that,  when  arbitrary  power  was  abso- 
lutely offered  to  him  by  circumstances,  and  when  his 
countrymen  would  have  willingly  seen  him  accept  it,  he 
yet  declined  it ;  still  Poplicola  merited  no  less,  who,  re- 


228  POPLICOLA  AND  SOLON. 

ceiving  a  despotic  command,  converted  it  to  a  popular 
office,  and  did  not  employ  the  whole  legal  power  which 
he  held.  We  must  allow,  indeed,  that  Solon  was  before 
Poplicola  in  observing  that 

A  people  always  minds  its  rulers  best 
When  it  is  neither  humored  nor  oppressed. 

The  remission  of  debts  was  peculiar  to  Solon ;  it  was 
his  great  means  for  confirming  the  citizens'  liberty ;  for  a 
mere  law  to  give  all  men  equal  rights  is  but  useless,  if 
the  poor  must  sacrifice  those  rights  to  their  debts,  and, 
in  the  very  seats  and  sanctuaries  of  equality,  the  courts 
of  justice,  the  offices  of  state,  and  the  public  discussions, 
be  more  than  anywhere  at  the  beck  and  bidding  of  the 
rich.    A  yet  more  extraordinary  success  was,  that,  although 
usually  civil  violence  is  caused  by  any  remission  of  debts, 
upon   this    one    occasion    this    dangerous  but   powerful 
remedy  actually  put  an  end  to  civil  violence  already  ex- 
isting, Solon's  own  private  worth  and  reputation  over- 
balancing all  the  ordinary  ill-repute  and  discredit  of  the 
change.     The    beginning  of  his   government  was  more 
glorious,  for  he  was  entirely  original,  and  followed  no 
man's  example,  and,  without  the  aid  of  any  ally,  achieved 
his  most  important  measures  by  his  own  conduct;  yet 
the  close  of  Poplicola's  life  was  more  happy  and  desirable, 
for  Solon  saw  the  dissolution  of  his  own  commonwealth, 
Poplicola's  maintained  the  state  in  good  order  down  to 
the  civil  wars.     Solon,  leaving  his  laws,  as  soon  as  he  had 
made  them,  engraven  in  wood,  but  destitute  of  a  defender, 
departed  from  Athens ;  whilst  Poplicola,  remaining,  both 
in  and  out  of  office,  labored  to  estabhsh  the  government 
Solon,  though  he  actually  knew  of  Pisistratus's  ambition, 
yet  was  not  able  to  suppress  it,  but  had  to  yield  to  usur- 
pation in    its   infancy;    whereas   Poplicola   utterly  sub- 


POPLICOLA  AND  SOLON.  229 

verted  and  dissolved  a  potent  monarchy,  strongly  settled 
by  long  continuance;  uniting  thus  to  virtues  equal  to 
those,  and  purposes  identical  with  those  of  Solon,  the  good 
fortune  and  the  power  that  alone  could  make  them  eflfec- 
tive. 

In  military  exploits,  Daimachus  of  Platasa  will  not  even 
allow  Solon  the  conduct  of  the  war  against  the  Megari- 
ans,  as  was  before  intimated  ;  but  Poplicola  was  victorious 
in  the  most  important  conflicts,  both  as  a  private  soldier 
and  commander.  In  domestic  politics,  also,  Solon,  in  play, 
as  it  were,  and  by  counterfeiting  madness,  induced  the 
enterprise  against  Salamis ;  whereas  Poplicola,  in  the  very 
beginning,  exposed  himself  to  the  greatest  risk,  took 
arms  against  Tarquin,  detected  the  conspiracy,  and,  being 
principally  concerned  both  in  preventing  the  escape  of  and 
afterwards  punishing  the  traitors,  not  only  expelled  the 
tyrants  from  the  city,  but  extirpated  their  very  hopes. 
And  as,  in  cases  calling  for  contest  and  resistance  and 
manful  opposition,  he  behaved  with  courage  and  resolu- 
tion, so,  in  instances  where  peaceable  language,  persua- 
sion, and  concession  were  requisite,  he  was  yet  more  to 
be  commended ;  and  succeeded  in  gaining  happily  to  re- 
conciliation and  friendship,  Porsenna,  a  terrible  and 
invincible  enemy.  Some  may,  perhaps,  object,  that  Solon 
recovered  Salamis,  which  they  had  lost,  for  the  Athenians ; 
whereas  Poplicola  receded  from  part  of  what  the  Romans 
were  at  that  time  possessed  of;  but  judgment  is  to  be 
made  of  actions  according  to  the  times  in  which  they 
were  performed.  The  conduct  of  a  wise  politician  is  ever 
suited  to  the  present  posture  of  affairs ;  often  by  forego- 
ing a  part  he  saves  the  whole,  and  by  yielding  in  a  small 
matter  secures  a  greater ;  and  so  Pophcola,  by  restoring 
what  the  Romans  had  lately  usurped,  saved  theu'  un- 
doubted patrimony,  and  procured,  moreover,  the  stores 
of  the  enemy  for  those  who  were  only  too  thankful  to 


230  POPLICOLA  AND  SOLON. 

secure  their  city.  Permitting  the  decision  of  the  contro- 
versy to  his  adversary,  he  not  only  got  the  victory,  but 
likewise  what  he  himself  would  willingly  have  given  to 
purchase  the  victory,  Porsenna  putting  an  end  to  the 
war,  and  leaving  them  all  the  provision  of  his  camp,  from 
the  sense  of  the  virtue  and  gallant  disposition  of  the 
Romans  which  their  consul  had  impressed  upon  him. 


THEMISTOCLES. 


The  birth  of  Themistocles  was  somewhat  too  obscure 
to  do  him  honor.  His  father,  Neocles,  was  not  of  the 
distinguished  people  of  Athens,  but  of  the  township  of 
Phrearrhi,  and  of  the  tribe  Leontis ;  and  by  his  mother's 
side,  as  it  is  reported,  he  was  base-born. 

I  am  not  of  the  noble  Grecian  race, 
I  'm  poor  Abrotonon,  and  bom  in  Thrace ; 
Let  the  Greek  women  scorn  me,  if  they  please, 
I  was  the  mother  of  Themistocles. 

Yet  Phanias  writes  that  the  mother  of  Themistocles  was 
not  of  Thrace,  but  of  Caria,  and  that  her  name  was  not 
Abrotonon,  but  Euterpe ;  and  Neanthes  adds  farther  that 
she  was  of  Halicarnassus  in  Caria.  And,  as  illegitimate 
children,  including  those  that  were  of  the  half-blood  or 
had  but  one  parent  an  Athenian,  had  to  attend  at  the 
Cynosarges  (a  wrestling-place  outside  the  gates,  dedicated 
to  Hercules,  who  was  also  of  half-blood  amongst  the  gods, 
having  had  a  mortal  woman  for  his  mother),  Themisto- 
cles persuaded  several  of  the  young  men  of  high  birth  to 
accompany  him  to  anoint  and  exercise  themselves  toge- 
ther at  Cynosarges;  an  ingenious  device  for  destroy- 
ing the  distinction  between  the  noble  and  the  base-born, 
and  between  those  of  the  whole  and  those  of  the  half 

(231) 


232  THEMISTOCLEIS. 

blood  of  Athens.  However,  it  is  certain  that  he  was  re- 
lated to  the  house  of  the  Lycomedae;  for  Simonides 
records,  that  he  rebuilt  the  chapel  of  Phlya,  belonging  to 
that  family,  and  beautified  it  with  pictures  and  other 
ornaments,  after  it  had  been  burnt  by  the  Persians. 

It  is  confessed  by  all  that  from  his  youth  he  was  of  a 
vehement  and  impetuous  nature,  of  a  quick  apprehen- 
sion, and  a  strong  and  aspiring  bent  for  action  and  great 
aifairs.  The  holidays  and  intervals  in  his  studies  he  did 
not  spend  in  play  or  idleness,  as  other  children,  but  would 
be  always  inventing  or  arranging  some  oration  or  declama- 
tion to  himself,  the  subject  of  which  was  generally  the 
excusing  or  accusing  his  companions,  so  that  his  master 
would  often  say  to  him,  "  You,  my  boy,  will  be  nothing 
small,  but  great  one  way  or  other,  for  good  or  else  for 
bad."  He  received  reluctantly  and  carelessly  instructions 
given  him  to  improve  his  manners  and  behavior,  or  to 
teach  him  any  pleasing  or  graceful  accomplishment,  but 
whatever  was  said  to  improve  him  in  sagacity,  or  in 
management  of  affairs,  he  would  give  attention  to,  be- 
yond one  of  his  years,  from  confidence  in  his  natural 
capacities  for  such  things.  And  thus  afterwards,  when 
in  company  where  people  engaged  themselves  in  what 
are  commonly  thought  the  liberal  and  elegant  amuse- 
ments, he  was  obliged  to  defend  himself  against  the 
observations  of  those  who  considered  themselves  highly 
accomplished,  by  the  somewhat  arrogant  retort,  that  he 
certainly  could  not  make  use  of  any  stringed  instrument, 
could  only,  were  a  small  and  obscure  city  put  into  his 
hands,  make  it  great  and  glorious.  Notwithstanding 
this,  Stesimbrotus  says  that  Themistocles  was  a  hearer  of 
Anaxagoras,  and  that  he  studied  natural  philosophy  un- 
der Melissus,  contrary  to  chronology ;  for  Melissus  com- 
manded the  Samians  in  their  siege  by  Pericles,  who  was 
much  Thcmistocles's  junior ;  and  with  Pericles,  also,  Anaxar 


THEMISTOCLES.  233 

goras  was  intimate.  They,  therefore,  might  rather  be 
credited,  who  report,  that  Themistocles  was  an  admirer 
of  Mnesiphikis  the  Phrearrhian,  who  was  neither  rhetori- 
cian nor  natural  philosopher,  but  a  professor  of  that 
which  was  then  called  wisdom,  consisting  in  a  sort  of  poli- 
tical shrewdness  and  practical  sagacity,  which  had  begun 
and  continued,  almost  like  a  sect  of  philosophy,  from  So- 
lon ;  but  those  who  came  afterwards,  and  mixed  it  with 
pleadings  and  legal  artifices,  and  transformed  the  practi- 
cal part  of  it  into  a  mere  art  of  speaking  and  an  exercise 
of  words,  were  generally  called  sophists.  Themistocles 
resorted  to  Mnesiphilus  when  he  had  already  embarked 
in  politics. 

In  the  first  essays  of  his  youth  he  was  not  regular  nor 
happily  balanced ;  he  allowed  himself  to  follow  mere  natr 
ural  character,  which,  without  the  control  of  reason  and 
instruction,  is  apt  to  hurry,  upon  either  side,  into  sudden 
and  violent  courses,  and  very  often  to  break  away  and 
determine  upon  the  worst ;  as  he  afterwards  owned  him- 
self, saying,  that  the  wildest  colts  make  the  best  horses, 
if  they  onl}-  get  properly  trained  and  broken  in.  But 
those  who  upon  this  fasten  stories  of  their  ow^n  inven- 
tion, as  of  his  being  disowned  by  his  father,  and  that  his 
mother  died  for  grief  of  her  son's  ill  fame,  certainly  ca- 
lumniate him ;  and  there  are  others  who  relate,  on  the 
contrary,  how  that  to  deter  him  from  public  business,  and 
to  let  him  see  how  the  vulo-ar  behave  themselves  to- 
wards  their  leaders  when  they  have  at  last  no  farther  use 
of  them,  his  father  showed  him  the  old  galleys  as  they 
lay  forsaken  and  cast  about  upon  the  sea-shore. 

Yet  it  is  evident  that  his  mind  was  early  imbued 
with  the  keenest  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  the  most 
passionate  ambition  for  distinction.  Eager  from  the  first 
to  obtain  the  highest  place,  he  unhesitatingly  accepted 
the  hatred  of  the  most  powerful  and  influential  leaders  in 


234  THEMISTOCLES. 

the  city,  but  more  especially  of  Aristides,  the  son  of  Lysi- 
machus,  who  always  opposed  him.  And  yet  all  this  great 
enmity  between  them  arose,  it  appears,  from  a  very  boy- 
ish occasion,  both  being  attached  to  the  beautiful  Stesi- 
laus  of  Ceos,  as  Ariston  the  philosopher  tells  us ;  ever  af- 
ter which,  they  took  opposite  sides,  and  were  rivals  in  pol- 
itics. Not  but  that  the  incompatibility  of  their  lives  and 
manners  may  seem  to  have  increased  the  difference,  for 
Aristides  was  of  a  mild  nature,  and  of  a  nobler  sort  of 
character,  and,  in  public  matters,  acting  always  with  a 
view,  not  to  glory  or  popularity,  but  to  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  state  consistently  with  safety  and  honesty,  he 
was  often  forced  to  oppose  Themistocles,  and  interfere 
against  the  increase  of  his  influence,  seeing  him  stirring 
up  the  people  to  all  kinds  of  enterprises,  and  introducing 
various  innovations.  For  it  is  said  that  Themistocles  was 
so  transported  with  the  thoughts  of  glory,  and  so  inflamed 
with  the  passion  for  great  actions,  that,  though  he  was 
still  young  when  the  battle  of  Marathon  was  fought 
against  the  Persians,  upon  the  skilful  conduct  of  the  gen- 
eral, Miltiades,  being  everywhere  talked  about,  he  was 
observed  to  be  thoughtful,  and  reserved,  alone  by  him- 
self; he  passed  the  nights  without  sleep,  and  avoided  all 
his  usual  places  of  recreation,  and  to  those  who  wondered 
at  the  change,  and  inquired  the  reason  of  it,  he  gave  the 
answer,  that  "  the  trophy  of  Miltiades  wo\ild  not  let  him 
sleep."  And  when  others  were  of  opinion  that  the  bat- 
tle of  Marathon  would  be  an  end  to  the  war,  Themisto- 
cles thought  that  it  was  but  the  beginning  of  far  greater 
conflicts,  and  for  these,  to  the  benefit  of  all  Greece,  he 
kept  himself  in  continual  readiness,  and  his  city  also  in 
proper  training,  foreseeing  from  far  before  what  would 
happen. 

And,   first   of   all,   the    Athenians   being    accustomed 
to  divide   amongst   themselves   the   revenue  proceeding 


THEMISTOCLES.  235 

from  the  silver  mines  at  Laurium,  he  was  the  only  niau 
that  durst  propose  to  the  people  that  this  distribution 
should  cease,  and  that  with  the  money  ships  should  be 
built  to  make  war  against  the  ^Eginetans,  who  were  the 
most  flourishing  people  in  all  Greece,  and  by  the  num- 
ber of  their  ships  held  the  sovereignty  of  the  sea ;  and 
Themistocles  thus  was  more  easily  able  to  persuade  them, 
avoiding  all  mention  of  danger  from  Darius  or  the  Per- 
sians, who  were  at  a  great  distance,  and  their  coming  very 
uncertain,  and  at  that  time  not  much  to  be  feared  ;  but, 
by  a  seasonable  employment  of  the  emulation  and  anger 
felt  by  the  Athenians  against  the  ^ginetans,  he  induced 
them  to  preparation.  So  that  with  this  money  an  hun- 
dred ships  were  built,  with  which  they  afterwards  fought 
against  Xerxes.  And,  henceforward,  little  by  little,  turn- 
ing and  drawing  the  city  down  towards  the  sea,  in  the 
belief,  that,  whereas  by  land  they  were  not  a  fit  match 
for  their  next  neighbors,  with  their  ships  they  might  be 
able  to  repel  the  Persians  and  command  Greece,  thus,  as 
Plato  says,  from  steady  soldiers  he  turned  them  into  mari- 
ners and  seamen  tossed  about  the  sea,  and  gave  occasion 
for  the  reproach  against  him,  that  he  took  away  from  the 
Athenians  the  spear  and  the  shield,  and  bound  them  to 
the  bench  and  the  oar.  These  measures  he  carried  in  the 
assembly,  against  the  opposition,  as  Stesimbrotus  relates, 
of  Miltiades;  and  whether  or  no  he  hereby  injured  the 
purity  and  true  balance  of  government,  may  be  a  ques- 
tion for  philosophers,  but  that  the  deliverance  of  Greece 
came  at  that  time  from  the  sea,  and  that  these  galleys 
restored  Athens  again  after  it  was  destroyed,  were  others 
wanting,  Xerxes  himself  would  be  sufficient  evidence, 
who,  though  his  land-forces  were  still  entire,  after  his  de- 
feat at  sea,  fled  away,  and  thought  himself  no  longer  able 
to  encounter  the  Greeks ;  and,  as  it  seems  to  me,  left  Ma.r- 


236  THEMISTOCLES. 

donius  behind  him,  not  out  of  any  hopes  he  could  have  to 
bring  them  into  subjection,  but  to  hinder  them  from  pur- 
suing him. 

Themistocles  is  said  to  have  been  eager  in  the  acquisi- 
tion of  riches,  according  to  some,  that  he  might  be  the 
more  liberal ;  for  loving  to  sacrifice  often,  and  to  be 
splendid  in  his  entertainment  of  strangers,  he  required  a 
plentiful  revenue ;  yet  he  is  accused  by  others  of  having 
been  parsimonious  and  sordid  to  that  degree  that  he 
would  sell  provisions  which  were  sent  to  him  as  a  present. 
He  desired  Diphilides,  who  was  a  breeder  of  horses,  to 
give  him  a  colt,  and  when  he  refused  it,  threatened  that 
in  a  short  time  he  would  turn  his  house  into  a  wooden  * 
horse,  intimating  that  he  would  stir  up  dispute  and  litiga- 
tion between  him  and  some  of  his  relations. 

He  went  beyond  all  men  in  the  passion  for  distinction. 
When  he  was  still  young  and  unknown  in  the  world,  he 
entreated  Epicles  of  Hermione,  who  had  a  good  hand  at 
the  lute  and  was  much  sought  after  by  the  Athenians,  to 
come  and  practise  at  home  with  him,  being  ambitious  of 
having  people  inquire  after  his  house  and  frequent  his 
company.  When  he  came  to  the  Olympic  games,  and 
was  so  splendid  in  his  equipage  and  entertainments,  in  his 
rich  tents  and  furniture,  that  he  strove  to  outdo  Cimon, 
he  displeased  the  Greeks,  who  thought  that  such  magnifi- 
cence might  be  allowed  in  one  who  was  a  young  man  and 
of  a  great  family  but  was  a  great  piece  of  insolence  in 
one  as  yet  undistinguished,  and  without  title  or  means  for 
making  any  such  display.  In  a  dramatic  contest,  the  play 
he  paid  for  won  the  prize,  which  was  then  a  matter  that 
excited  much  emulation  ;  he  put  up  a  tablet  in  record  of 
it,  with  the  inscription,  "  Themistocles  of  Phrearrhi  was 
at  the  charge  of  it ;  Phrynichus  made  it  j  Adimantus  was 

*  Full  of  people  ready  for  fighting,  like  the  Trojan  horse. 


THEMISTOCLES.  237 

archon."  He  was  well  liked  by  the  common  people, 
would  salute  every  particular  citizen  b}^  his  own  name, 
and  always  show  himself  a  just  judge  in  questions  of 
business  between  private  men ;  he  said  to  Simonides,  the 
poet  of  Ceos,  who  desired  something  of  him,  when  he  was 
commander  of  the  array,  that  was  not  reasonable, "  Simon- 
ides, you  would  be  no  good  poet  if  you  wrote  false  mea- 
sure, nor  should  I  be  a  good  magistrate  if  for  favor  I 
made  false  law/'  And  at  another  time,  laughing  at 
Simonides,  he  said,  that  he  was  a  man  of  little  judgment 
to  speak  against  the  Corinthians,  who  were  inhabitants  of 
a  great  city,  and  to  have  his  own  picture  drawn  so  often, 
having  so  ill-looking  a  face. 

Gradually  growing  to  be  great,  and  winning  the  favor 
of  the  people,  he  at  last  gained  the  day  with  his  faction 
over  that  of  Aristides,  and  procured  his  banishment  by 
osti'acism.  When  the  king  of  Persia  was  now  advancing 
against  Greece,  and  the  Athenians  were  in  consultation 
who  should  be  general,  and  many  withdrew  themselves 
of  their  own  accord,  being  terrijfied  with  the  greatness  of 
the  danger,  there  was  one  Epicydes,  a  popular  speaker, 
son  to  Euphemides,  a  man  of  an  eloquent  tongue,  but  of 
a  faint  heart,  and  a  slave  to  riches,  who  was  desirous  of 
the  command,  and  was  looked  upon  to  be  in  a  fair  way 
to  carry  it  by  the  number  of  votes;  but  Themistocles, 
fearing  that,  if  the  command  should  fall  into  such  hands, 
all  would  be  lost,  bought  off  Epicydes  and  his  pretensions, 
it  is  said,  for  a  sum  of  money. 

When  the  king  of  Persia  sent  messengers  into  Greece, 
with  an  interpreter,  to  demand  earth  and  water,  as  an 
acknowledgment  of  subjection,  Themistocles,  by  the  con- 
sent of  the  people,  seized  upon  the  interpreter,  and  put 
liim  to  death,  for  presuming  to  publish  the  barbarian  orders 
and  decrees  in  the  Greek  language ;  this  is  one  of  the  ac- 
tions he  is  commended  for,  as  also  for  what  he  did  to  Arth- 


238  THEMISTOCLES. 

mius  of  Zelea,  who  brought  gold  from  the  king  of  Persia 
to  corrupt  the  Greeks,  and  was,  by  an  order  from  The- 
mistocles,  degraded  and  disfranchised,  he  and  his  children 
and  his  posterity  ;  but  that  which  most  of  all  redounded 
to  his  credit  was,  that  he  put  an  end  to  all  the  civil  wars 
of  Greece,  composed  their  differences,  and  persuaded 
them  to  lay  aside  all  enmity  during  the  war  with  the 
Persians ;  and  in  this  great  work,  Chileus  the  Arcadian 
was,  it  is  said,  of  great  assistance  to  him. 

Having  taken  upon  himself  the  command  of  the  Athe- 
nian forces,  he  immediately  endeavored  to  persuade  the 
citizens  to  leave  the  city,  and  to  embark  upon  their  gal- 
leys, and  meet  with  the  Persians  at  a  great  distance  from 
Greece;  but  many  being  against  this,  he  led  a  large 
force,  together  with  the  Lacedaemonians,  into  Tempe,  that 
in  this  pass  they  might  maintain  the  safety  of  Thessaly, 
which  had  not  as  yet  declared  for  the  king ;  but  when 
they  returned  without  performing  any  thing,  and  it  was 
known  that  not  only  the  Thessalians,  but  all  as  far  as 
Boeotia,  was  going  over  to  Xerxes,  then  the  Athenians 
more  willingly  hearkened  to  the  advice  of  Themistocles 
to  fight  by  sea,  and  sent  him  with  a  fleet  to  guard  the 
straits  of  Artemisium. 

When  the  contingents  met  here,  the  Greeks  would 
have  the  Lacedaemonians  to  command,  and  Eurybiades  to 
be  their  admiral ;  but  the  Athenians,  who  surpassed  all 
the  rest  together  in  number  of  vessels,  would  not  submit 
to  come  after  any  other,  till  Themistocles,  perceiving  the 
danger  of  this  contest,  yielded  his  own  command  to  Eu- 
rybiades, and  got  the  Athenians  to  submit,  extenuating 
the  loss  by  persuading  them,  that  if  in  this  war  they  be- 
haved themselves  like  men,  he  would  answer  for  it  after 
that,  that  the  Greeks,  of  their  own  will,  would  submit  to 
their  command.  And  by  this  moderation  of  his,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  he  was  the  chief  means  of  the  deliverance  of 


THEMISTOCLES.  239 

Greece,  and  gained  the  Athenians  the  glory  of  alike  sur- 
passing their  enemies  in  valor,  and  their  confederates  in 
wisdom. 

As  soon  as  the  Persian  armada  arrived  at  Aphetoe,  Eu- 
rybiades  was  astonished  to  see  such  a  vast  number  of 
vessels  before  him,  and,  being  informed  that  two  hundred 
more  were  sailing  round  behind  the  island  of  Sciathus,  he 
immediately  determined  to  retire  farther  into  Greece,  and 
to  sail  back  into  some  part  of  Peloponnesus,  where  their 
land  army  and  their  fleet  might  join,  for  he  looked  upon 
the  Persian  forces  to  be  altogether  unassailable  by  sea. 
But  the  Euboeans,  fearing  that  the  Greeks  would  forsake 
them,  and  leave  them  to  the  mercy  of  the  enemy,  sent 
Pelagon  to  confer  privately  with  Themistocles,  taking 
with  him  a  good  sum  of  money,  which,  as  Herodotus 
reports,  he  accepted  and  gave  to  Eurybiades.  In  this 
affair  none  of  his  own  countrymen  opposed  him  so  much 
as  Architeles,  captain  of  the  sacred  galley,  who,  having  no 
money  to  supply  his  seamen,  was  eager  to  go  home ;  but 
Themistocles  so  incensed  the  Athenians  against  him,  that 
they  set  upon  him  and  left  him  not  so  much  as  his  sup- 
per, at  which  Architeles  was  much  surprised,  and  took  it 
very  ill;  but  Themistocles  immediately  sent  him  in  a 
chest  a  service  of  provisions,  and  at  the  bottom  of  it  a 
talent  of  silver,  desiring  him  to  sup  to-night,  and  to-mor- 
row provide  for  his  seamen ;  if  not,  he  would  report  it 
amongst  the  Athenians  that  he  had  received  money  from 
the  enemy.     So  Phanias  the  Lesbian  tells  the  story. 

Though  the  fights  between  the  Greeks  and  Persians  in 
the  straits  of  Euboea  were  not  so  important  as  to  make 
any  final  decision  of  the  war,  yet  the  experience  which 
the  Greeks  obtained  in  them  was  of  great  advantage ; 
for  thus,  by  actual  trial  and  in  real  danger,  they  found 
out,  that  neither  number  of  ships,  nor  riches  and  orna- 
ments, nor  boasting  shouts,  nor  barl)arous  songs  of  vie- 


240  THEMISTOCLES. 

tory,  were  any  way  terrible  to  men  that  knew  how  to 
fight,  and  were  resolved  to  come  hand  to  hand  with  their 
enemies ;  these  things  they  were  to  despise,  and  to  come 
up  close  and  grapple  with  their  foes.  This,  Pindar  ap- 
pears to  have  seen,  and  says  justly  enough  of  the  fight  at 
Artemisium,  that 

There  the  sons  of  Athens  set 

The  stone  that  freedom  stands  on  yet. 

For  the  first  step  towards  victory  undoubtedly  is  to  gain 
courage.  Artemisium  is  in  Euboea,  beyond  the  city  of 
Histisea,  a  sea-beach  open  to  the  north ;  most  nearly  op- 
posite to  it  stands  Olizon,  in  the  country  which  formerly 
was  under  Philoctetes;  there  is  a  small  temple  there, 
dedicated  to  Diana,  surnamed  of  the  Dawn,  and  trees 
about  it,  around  which  again  stand  pillars  of  white  mar- 
ble ;  and  if  you  rub  them  with  your  hand,  they  send  forth 
both  the  smell  and  color  of  saffron.  On  one  of  the  pil- 
lars these  verses  are  eng-raved,  — 


'O' 


With  numerous  tribes  from  Asia's  regions  brought 
The  sons  of  Athens  on  these  waters  fought ; 
Erecting,  after  they  had  quelled  the  Mede, 
To  Artemis  this  record  of  the  deed. 

There  is  a  place  still  to  be  seen  upon  this  shore,  where,  in 
the  middle  of  a  great  heap  of  sand,  they  take  out  from 
the  bottom  a  dark  powder  like  ashes,  or  something  that 
has  passed  the  fire;  and  here,  it  is  supposed,  the  ship- 
wrecks and  bodies  of  the  dead  were  burnt. 

But  when  news  came  from  ThermopylaB  to  Artemisium, 
informing  them  that  king  Leonidas  was  slain,  and  that 
Xerxes  had  made  himself  master  of  all  the  passages  by 
land,  they  returned  back  to  the  interior  of  Greece,  the 
Athenians  having  the  command  of  the  rear,  the  place  of 


THEMISTOCLES.  241 

honor  and  danger,  and  much  elated  by  what  had  been 
done. 

As  Themistocles  sailed  along  the  coast,  he  took  notice 
of  the  harbors  and  fit  places  for  the  enemies'  ships  to  come 
to  land  at,  and  engraved  large  letters  in  such  stones  as 
he  found  there  by  chance,  as  also  in  others  which  he  set 
up  on  purpose  near  to  the  landing-places,  or  where  they 
were  to  water ;  in  which  inscriptions  he  called  upon  the 
lonians  to  forsake  the  Medes,  if  it  were  possible,  and  come 
over  to  the  Greeks,  who  were  their  proper  founders  and 
fathers,  and  were  now  hazarding  all  for  their  liberties; 
but,  if  this  could  not  be  done,  at  any  rate  to  impede  and 
disturb  the  Persians  in  all  engagements.  He  hoped  that 
these  writings  would  prevail  with  the  lonians  to  revolt, 
or  raise  some  trouble  by  making  their  fidelity  doubtful 
to  the  Persians. 

Now,  though  Xerxes  had  already  passed  through  Doris 
and  invaded  the  country  of  Phocis,  and  was  burning  and 
destroying  the  cities  of  the  Phocians,  yet  the  Greeks  sent 
them  no  relief;  and,  though  the  Athenians  earnestly 
desired  them  to  meet  the  Persians  in  Boeotia,  before  they 
could  come  into  Attica,  as  they  themselves  had  come  for- 
ward by  sea  at  Artemisium,  they  gave  no  ear  to  their 
request,  being  Avholly  intent  upon  Peloponnesus,  and  re- 
solved to  gather  all  their  forces  together  within  the 
Isthmus,  and  to  build  a  wall  from  sea  to  sea  in  that  narrow 
neck  of  land;  so  that  the  Athenians  were  enraged  to 
see  themselves  betrayed,  and  at  the  same  time  afflicted 
and  dejected  at  their  own  destitution.  For  to  fight  alone 
against  such  a  numerous  army  was  to  no  purpose,  and 
the  only  expedient  now  left  them  was  to  leave  their  city 
and  cling  to  their  ships ;  which  the  people  were  very  un- 
willing to  submit  to,  imagining  that  it  would  signify  little 
now  to  gain  a  victory,  and  not  understanding  how  there 
could  be  deliverance  any  longer  after  they  had  once  for- 

VOL.  I.  16 


242  THEMISTOCLES. 

saken  the  temples  of  their  gods  and  exposed  the  tombs  and 
monuments  of  their  ancestors  to  the  fury  of  their  enemies. 
Themistocles,  being  at  a  loss,  and  not  able  to  draw  the 
people  over  to  his  opinion  by  any  human  reason,  set 
his  machines  to  work,  as  in  a  theatre,  and  employed 
prodigies  and  oracles.  The  serpent  of  Minerva,  kept  in 
the  inner  part  of  her  temple,  disappeared;  the  priests 
gave  it  out  to  the  people  that  the  offerings  which  were 
set  for  it  were  found  untouched,  and  declared,  by  the 
suggestion  of  Themistocles,  that  the  goddess  had  left  the 
city,  and  taken  her  flight  before  them  towards  the  sea. 
And  he  often  urged  them  with  the  oracle  '•'  which  bade 
them  trust  to  walls  of  wood,  showing  them  that  walls 
of  wood  could  signify  nothing  else  but  ships ;  and  that 
the  island  of  Salamis  was  termed  in  it,  not  miserable  or 
unhappy,  but  had  the  epithet  of  divine,  for  that  it 
should  one  day  be  associated  with  a  great  good  for- 
tune of  the  Greeks.  At  length  his  opinion  prevailed, 
and  he  obtained  a  decree  that  the  city  should  be 
committed  to  the  protection  of  Minerva,  "queen  of 
Athens ; "  that  they  who  were  of  age  to  bear  arms  should 
embark,  and  that  each  should  see  to  sending  away  his 
children,  women,  and  slaves  where  he  could.  This  decree 
being  confirmed,  most  of  the  Athenians  removed  their 
parents,  wives,  and  children  to  Trcezen,  where  they  were 
received  with  eager  good-will  by  the  Troezenians,  who 
passed  a  vote  that  they  should  be  maintained  at  the  pub- 
lic charge,  by  a  daily  payment  of  two  obols  to  every  one, 


*  "  While   all   things  else   are  and  an  host  of  men  on  foot,  coming 

taken,"  said  the  oracle,  "  within  the  from  the  mainland  ;    retire  turning 

boundary  of  Cecrops  and  the  covert  thy  back  ;    one  day   yet  thou  shalt 

of  divine   Cithasron,  Zeus    grants  show  thy  face.     O   divine   Salamis, 

to  Athena  that  the  wall  of  wood  but  thou    shalt    slay  chUdren  of 

alone    shall    remain    uncaptured  ;  women,  either  at  the  scattering  of 

that     shall    help    thee    and     thy  Demeter  or  at  the  gathering." 
children.     Stay  not  for    horsemen 


THEMISTOCLES.  243 

and  leave  be  given  to  the  children  to  gather  fruit  where 
they  pleased,  and  schoolmasters  paid  to  instruct  them. 
This  vote  was  proposed  by  Nicagoras. 

There  was  no  public  treasure  at  that  time  in  Athens ; 
but  the  council  of  Areopagus,  as  Aristotle  says,  distributed 
to  every  one  that  served,  eight  drachmas,  which  was  a 
great  help  to  the  manning  of  the  fleet ;  but  Clidemus  as- 
cribes this  also  to  the  art  of  Themistocles.  When  the 
Athenians  were  on  their  way  down  to  the  haven  of 
Pirasus,  the  shield  with  the  head  of  Medusa  was  missing; 
and  he,  under  the  pretext  of  searching  for  it,  ransacked 
all  places,  and  found  among  their  goods  considerable 
sums  of  money  concealed,  which  he  applied  to  the  public 
use;  and  with  this  the  soldiers  and  seamen  were  well 
provided  for  their  voyage. 

When  the  whole  city  of  Athens  were  going  on  board, 
it  afforded  a  spectacle  worthy  of  pity  alike  and  admira- 
tion, to  see  them  thus  send  away  their  fathers  and  chil- 
dren before  them,  and,  unmoved  with  their  cries  and 
tears,  pass  over  into  the  island.  But  that  which  stirred 
compassion  most  of  all  was,  that  many  old  men,  by  rea- 
son of  their  great  age,  were  left  behind ;  and  even  the 
tame  domestic  animals  could  not  be  seen  without  some 
pity,  running  about  the  town  and  howling,  as  desirous  to 
be  carried  along  with  their  masters  that  had  kept  them ; 
among  which  it  is  reported  that  Xanthippus,  the  father 
of  Pericles,  had  a  dog  that  would  not  endure  to  stay  be- 
hind, but  leaped  into  the  sea,  and  swam  along  by  the  gal- 
ley's side  till  he  came  to  the  island  of  Salamis,  where  he 
fainted  away  and  died,  and  that  spot  in  the  island,  which 
is  still  called  the  Dog's  Grave,  is  said  to  be  his. 

Among  the  great  actions  of  Themistocles  at  this  crisis, 
the  recall  of  Aristides  was  not  the  least,  for,  before  the 
war,  he  had  been  ostracized  by  the  party  which  Themi- 
stocles headed,  and  was  in  banishment ;  but  now,  percei- 


244  THEMISTOCLES. 

ving  that  the  people  regretted  his  absence,  and  were  fear- 
ful that  he  might  go  over  to  the  Persians  to  revenge  him- 
self, and  thereby  ruin  the  affairs  of  Greece,  Themistocles 
proposed  a  decree  that  those  who  were  banished  for  a 
time  might  return  again,  to  give  assistance  by  word  and 
deed  to  the  cause  of  Greece  with  the  rest  of  their  fellow- 
citizens. 

Eurybiades,  by  reason  of  the  greatness  of  Sparta,  was 
admiral  of  the  Greek  fleet,  but  yet  was  faint-hearted  in 
time  of  danger,  and  willing  to  weigh  anchor  and  set  sail 
for  the  isthmus  of  Corinth,  near  which  the  land  army  lay 
encamped  ;  which  Themistocles  resisted ;  and  this  was  the 
occasion  of  the  well-known  words,  when  Eurybiades,  to 
check  his  impatience,  told  him  that  at  the  Olympic 
games  they  that  start  up  before  the  rest  are  lashed ; 
"  And  they,"  replied  Themistocles,  "  that  are  left  behind 
are  not  crowned."  Again,  Eurybiades  lifting  up  his  staff 
as  if  he  were  going  to  strike,  Themistocles  said,  "  Strike 
if  you  will,  but  hear ; "  Eurybiades,  wondering  much  at 
his  moderation,  desired  him  to  speak,  and  Themistocles 
now  brouo-ht  him  to  a  better  understandino^.  And  when 
one  who  stood  by  him  told  him  that  it  did  not  become 
those  who  had  neither  city  nor  house  to  lose,  to  persuade 
others  to  relinquish  their  habitations  and  forsake  their 
countries,  Themistocles  gave  this  reply:  "We  have  in- 
deed left  our  houses  and  our  walls,  base  fellow,  not 
thinking  it  fit  to  become  slaves  for  the  sake  of  things 
that  have  no  life  nor  soul ;  and  yet  our  city  is  the 
greatest  of  all  Greece,  consisting  of  two  hundred  galleys, 
which  are  here  to  defend  you,  if  you  please ;  but  if  you 
run  away  and  betray  us,  as  you  did  once  before,  the 
Greeks  shall  soon  hear  news  of  the  Athenians  possessing 
as  fair  a  country,  and  as  large  and  free  a  city,  as  that  they 
have  lost."  These  expressions  of  Themistocles  made  Eu- 
rybiades suspect  that  if  he  retreated  the  Athenians  would 


THEMISTOCLES.  245 

fall  off  from  him.  When  one  of  Eretria  began  to  oppose 
him,  he  said,  "  Have  you  any  thing  to  say  of  war,  that 
are  like  an  ink-fish  ?  yon  have  a  sword,  but  no  heart."  * 
Some  say  that  while  Themistocles  was  thus  speaking 
things  upon  the  deck,  an  owl  was  seen  flying  to  the  right 
hand  of  the  fle*^t,  which  came  and  sate  upon  the  top  of 
the  mast ;  and  this  happy  omen  so  far  disposed  the 
Greeks  to  follow  his  advice,  that  they  presently  prepared 
to  fight.  Yet,  when  the  enemy's  fleet  was  arrived  at  the 
haven  of  Phalerum,  upon  the  coast  of  Attica,  and  with 
the  number  of  their  ships  concealed  all  the  shore,  and 
when  they  saw  the  king  himself  in  person  come  down 
with  his  land  army  to  the  sea-side,  with  all  his  forces 
united,  then  the  good  counsel  of  Themistocles  was  soon 
forgotten,  and  the  Peloponnesians  cast  their  eyes  again 
towards  the  isthmus,  and  took  it  very  ill  if  any  one 
spoke  against  their  returning  home  ;  and,  resolving  to  de- 
part that  night,  the  pilots  had  order  what  course  to  steer. 
Themistocles,  in  great  distress  that  the  Greeks  should 
retire,  and  lose  the  advantage  of  the  narrow  seas  and 
strait  passage,  and  slip  home  every  one  to  his  own  city, 
considered  with  himself,  and  contrived  that  stratagem 
that  was  carried  out  by  Sicinnus.  This  Sicinnus  was  a 
Persian  captive,  but  a  great  lover  of  Themistocles,  and 
the  attendant  of  his  children.  Upon  this  occasion,  he 
sent  him  privately  to  Xerxes,  commanding  him  to  tell 
the  king,  that  Themistocles,  the  admiral  of  the  Athenians, 
having  espoused  his  interest,  wished  to  be  the  first  to  in- 
form him  that  the  Greeks  were  ready  to  make  their 
escape,  and  that  he  counselled  him  to  hinder  their  flight, 
to  set  upon  them  while  they  were  in  this  confusion  and 
at  a  distance  from  their  land  army,  and  hereby  destroy 
all  their  forces  by  sea.     Xerxes  was  very  joyful  at  this 

*  The   Teuthis,  loligo,  or  cuttle-     lage  shaped  like  a  sword,  and  was 
fish,  is  said  to  have  a  bone  or  carti-     conceived  to  have  no  heart. 


246  THEMISTOCLES. 

message,  and  received  it  as  from  one  who  wished  him  all 
that  was  good,  and  immediately  issued  instructions  to  the 
commanders  of  his  ships,  that  they  should  instantly  set 
out  with  two  hundred  galleys  to  encompass  all  the  islands, 
and  enclose  all  the  straits  and  passages,  that  none  of  the 
Greeks  might  escape,  and  that  they  should  afterwards 
follow  with  the  rest  of  their  fleet  at  leisure.  This  being 
done,  Aristides,  the  son  of  Lysimachus,  was  the  first  man 
that  perceived  it,  and  went  to  the  tent  of  Themistocles, 
not  out  of  any  friendship,  for  he  had  been  formerly  ban- 
ished by  his  means,  as  has  been  related,  but  to  inform 
him  how  they  were  encompassed  by  their  enemies.  The- 
mistocles, knowing  the  generosity  of  Aristides,  and  much 
struck  by  his  visit  at  that  time,  imparted  to  him  all  that 
he  had  transacted  by  Sicinnus,  and  entreated  him,  that,  as 
he  would  be  more  readily  believed  among  the  Greeks,  he 
would  make  use  of  his  credit  to  help  to  induce  them  to 
stay  and  fight  their  enemies  in  the  narrow  seas.  Aristi- 
des applauded  Themistocles,  and  went  to  the  other  com- 
manders and  captains  of  the  galleys,  and  encouraged 
them  to  engage  ;  yet  they  did  not  perfectly  assent  to 
him,  till  a  galley  of  Tenos,  which  deserted  from  the  Per- 
sians, of  which  Pansetius  was  commander,  came  in,  while 
they  were  still  doubting,  and  confirmed  the  news  that 
all  the  straits  and  passages  were  beset ;  and  then  their 
rage  and  fury,  as  well  as  their  necessity,  provoked  them 
all  to  fight. 

As  soon  as  it  was  day,  Xerxes  placed  himself  high  up, 
to  view  his  fleet,  and  how  it  was  set  in  order.  Phano- 
demus  says,  he  sat  uj)on  a  promontory  above  the  temple 
of  Hercules,  where  the  coast  of  Attica  is  separated  from 
the  island  by  a  narrow  channel ;  but  Acestodorus  writes, 
that  it  was  in  the  confines  of  Megara,  upon  those  hills 
which  are  called  the  Horns,  where  he  sat  in  a  chair  of 
gold,  with  manj^  secretaries  about  him  to  write  down  all 
that  was  done. 


THEMISTOCLES.  247 

When  Tliemistocles  was  about  to  sacrifice,  close  to  the 
admiral's  galley,  there  were  three  prisoners  brought  to 
him,  fine  looking  men,  and  richly  dressed  in  ornamented 
clothing  and  gold,  said  to  be  the  children  of  Artayctes 
and  Sandauce,  sister  to  Xerxes.  As  soon  as  the  prophet 
Euphrantides  saw  them,  and  observed  that  at  the  same 
time  the  fire  blazed  out  from  the  offerings  with  a  more 
than  ordinary  flame,  and  that  a  man  sneezed  on  the  right, 
which  was  an  intimation  of  a  fortunate  event,  he  took 
Themistocles  by  the  hand,  and  bade  him  consecrate  the 
three  young  men  for  sacrifice,  and  offer  them  up  with 
prayers  for  victory  to  Bacchus  the  Devourer :  so  should 
the  Greeks  not  only  save  themselves,  but  also  obtain 
victory.  Themistocles  was  much  disturbed  at  this  strange 
and  terrible  prophecy,  but  the  common  people,  who,  in 
any  difficult  crisis  and  great  exigency,  ever  look  for 
relief  rather  to  strange  and  extravagant  than  to  reason- 
able means,  calling  upon  Bacchus  with  one  voice,  led 
the  captives  to  the  altar,  and  compelled  the  execution 
of  the  sacrifice  as  the  prophet  had  commanded.  This 
is  reported  by  Phanias  the  Lesbian,  a  philosopher  well 
read  in  history. 

The  number  of  the  enemy's  ships  the  poet  ^schylus 
gives  in  his  tragedy  called  the  Persians,  as  on  his  certain 
knowledge,  in  the  following  words  — 

Xerxes,  I  know,  did  into  battle  lead 

One  thousand  ships ;  of  more  than  usual  speed 

Seven  and  two  hundred.     So  is  it  agreed. 

The  Athenians  had  a  hundred  and  eighty ;  in  every  ship 
eighteen  men  fought  upon  the  deck,  four  of  whom  were 
archers  and  the  rest  men-at-arms. 

As  Themistocles  had  fixed  upon  the  most  advantageous 
place,  so,  with  no  less  sagacity,  he  chose  the  best  time  of 
fighting ;  for  he  would  not  run  the  prows  of  his  galleys 
against  the  Persians,  nor  begin  the  fight  till  the  time  of 


248  THEMISTOCLES. 

day  was  come,  when  there  regularly  blows  in  a  fresh 
breeze  from  the  open  sea,  and  brings  in  with  it  a  strong 
swell  into  the  channel;  which  was  no  incoDvenience  to 
the  Greek  ships,  which  were  low-built,  and  little  above  the 
water,  but  did  much  hurt  to  the  Persians,  which  had  high 
sterns  and  lofty  decks,  and  w^ere  heavy  and  cumbrous  in 
their  movements,  as  it  presented  them  broadside  to  the 
quick  charges  of  the  Greeks,  who  kept  their  eyes  upon 
the  motions  of  Themistocles,  as  their  best  example,  and 
more  particularly  because,  opposed  to  his  ship,  Ariamenes, 
admiral  to  Xerxes,  a  brave  man,  and  by  far  the  best  and 
worthiest  of  the  king's  brothers,  was  seen  throwing  darts 
and  shooting  arrows  from  his  huge  galley,  as  from  the 
walls  of  a  castle.  Aminias  the  Decelean  and  Sosicles  the 
Pedian,  who  sailed  in  the  same  vessel,  upon  the  ships  meet- 
ing stem  to  stem,  and  transfixing  each  the  other  with  their 
brazen  prows,  so  that  they  were  fastened  together,  when 
Ariamenes  attempted  to  board  theirs,  ran  at  him  with  their 
pikes,  and  thrust  him  into  the  sea ;  his  body,  as  it  floated 
amongst  other  shipwrecks,  was  known  to  Artemisia,  and 
carried  to  Xerxes. 

It  is  reported,  that,  in  the  middle  of  the  fight,  a  great 
flame  rose  into  the  air  above  the  city  of  Eleusis,  and  that 
sounds  and  voices  were  heard  through  all  the  Thriasian 
plain,  as  far  as  the  sea,  sounding  like  a  number  of  men 
accompanying  and  escorting  the  mystic  lacchus,  and  that 
a  mist  seemed  to  form  and  rise  from  the  place  from  whence 
the  sounds  came,  and,  passing  forward,  fell  upon  the  gal- 
leys. Others  believed  that  they  saw  apparitions,  in  the 
shape  of  armed  men,  reaching  out  their  hands  from  the 
island  of  ^gina  before  the  Grecian  galleys ;  and  supposed 
they  were  the  ^acidae,  whom  they  had  invoked  to  their 
aid  before  the  battle.  The  first  man  that  took  a  ship  was 
Lycomedes  the  Athenian,  captain  of  a  galley,  who  cut 
down  its  ensign,  and  dedicated  it  to  Apollo  the  Laurel- 
crowned.     And  as  the  Persians  fought  in  a  narrow  arm 


THEMISTOCLES.  249 

of  the  sea,  and  could  bring  but  part  of  their  fleet  to  fight, 
and  fell  foul  of  one  another,  the  Greeks  thus  equalled 
them  in  strength,  and  fought  with  them  till  the  evening, 
forced  them  back,  and  obtained,  as  says  Simonidcs,  that 
noble  and  famous  victory,  than  which  neither  amongst  the 
Greeks  nor  barbarians  was  ever  known  more  glorious 
exploit  on  the  seas ;  by  the  joint  valor,  indeed,  anr  1  zeal 
of  all  who  fought,  but  by  the  wisdom  and  sagacity  of 
Themistocles. 

After  this  sea-fight,  Xerxes,  enraged  at  his  ill-fortime, 
attempted,  by  casting  great  heaps  of  earth  and  stones  into 
the  sea,  to  stop  up  the  channel  and  to  make  a  dam,  upon 
which  he  might  lead  his  land-forces  over  into  the  island 
of  Salamis. 

Themistocles,  being  desirous  to  try  the  opinion  of 
Aristides,  told  him  that  he  proposed  to  set  sail  for  the 
Hellespont,  to  break  the  bridge  of  ships,  so  as  to  shut  up, 
he  said,  Asia  a  prisoner  within  Europe  ;  but  Aristides,  dis- 
liking the  design,  said,  "We  have  hitherto  fought  with  an 
enemy  who  has  regarded  little  else  but  his  pleasure  and 
luxury ;  but  if  we  shut  him  up  within  Greece,  and  drive 
him  to  necessity,  he  that  is  master  of  such  great  forces 
will  no  longer  sit  quietly  with  an  umbrella  of  gold  over 
his  head,  looking  upon  the  fight  for  his  pleasure ;  but  in 
such  a  strait  will  attempt  all  things ;  he  will  be  resolute, 
and  appear  himself  in  person  upon  all  occasions,  he  will 
soon  correct  his  errors,  and  supply  what  he  has  formerly 
omitted  through  remissness,  and  will  be  better  advised  in 
all  things.  Therefore,  it  is  noways  our  interest,  Themi- 
stocles," he  said,  "  to  take  away  the  bridge  that  is  already 
made,  but  rather  to  build  another,  if  it  were  possible,  that 
he  might  make  his  retreat  with  the  more  expedition."  To 
which  Themistocles  answered,  *'If  this  be  requisite,  we 
must  immediately  use  all  diligence,  art,  and  industry,  to 
rid  ourselves  of  him  as  soon  as  may  be  ; "  and  to  this  pur- 


250  THEMISTOCLES. 

pose  lie  found  out  among  the  captives  one  of  the  kmg  of 
Persia's  eunuchs,  named  Arnaces,  whom  he  sent  to  the 
king,  to  inform  him  that  the  Greeks,  being  now  victorious 
by  sea,  had  decreed  to  sail  to  the  Hellespont,  where  the 
boats  were  fastened  together,  and  destroy  the  bridge; 
but  that  Themistocles,  being  concerned  for  the  king,  re- 
vealed this  to  him,  that  he  might  hasten  towards  the 
Asiatic  seas,  and  pass  over  into  his  own  dominions ;  and 
in  the  mean  time  would  cause  delays,  and  hinder  the  con- 
federates from  pursuing  him.  Xerxes  no  sooner  heard 
this,  but,  being  very  much  terrified,  he  proceeded  to  re- 
treat out  of  Greece  with  all  speed.  The  prudence  of 
Themistocles  and  Aristides  in  this  was  afterwards  more 
fully  understood  at  the  battle  of  Plataea,  where  Mardo- 
nius,  with  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  forces  of  Xerxes, 
put  the  Greeks  in  danger  of  losing  all. 

Herodotus  writes,  that,  of  all  the  cities  of  Greece, 
JEgma  was  held  to  have  performed  the  best  service  in 
the  war;  while  all  single  men  yielded  to  Themistocles, 
though,  out  of  envy,  unwillingly ;  and  when  they  re- 
turned to  the  entrance  of  Peloponnesus,  where  the  sev- 
eral commanders  delivered  their  suffrages  at  the  altar,  to 
determine  who  was  most  worthy,  every  one  gave  the 
first  vote  for  himself  and  the  second  for  Themistocles. 
The  Lacedaemonians  carried  him  with  them  to  Sparta, 
where,  giving  the  rewards  of  valor  to  Eurybiades,  and  of 
wisdom  and  conduct  to  Themistocles,  they  crowned  him 
with  olive,  presented  him  with  the  best  chariot  in  the 
city,  and  sent  three  hundred  young  men  to  accompany 
him  to  the  confines  of  their  country.  And  at  the  next 
Oljinpic  games,  when  Themistocles  entered  the  course, 
the  spectators  took  no  farther  notice  of  those  who  were 
contesting  the  prizes,  but  spent  the  whole  day  in  looking 
upon  him,  showing  him  to  the  strangers,  admiring  him, 
and  applauding  him  by  clapping  their  hands,  and  other 


THEMISTOCLES.  251 

expressions  of  joy,  so  that  he  himself,  much  gratified, 
confessed  to  his  friends  that  he  then  reaped  the  fruit  of 
all  his  labors  for  the  Greeks. 

He  was,  indeed,  by  nature,  a  great  lover  of  honor,  as  is 
evident  from  the  anecdotes  recorded  of  him.  When 
chosen  admiral  by  the  Athenians,  he  would  not  quite 
conclude  any  single  matter  of  business,  either  public  or 
private,  but  deferred  all  till  the  day  they  were  to  set 
sail,  that,  by  despatching  a  great  quantity  of  business  all 
at  once,  and  having  to  meet  a  great  variety  of  people,  he 
might  make  an  appearance  of  greatness  and  power.  View- 
ing the  dead  bodies  cast  up  by  the  sea,  he  perceived 
bracelets  and  necklaces  of  gold  about  them,  yet  passed 
on,  only  showing  them  to  a  friend  that  followed  him, 
saying,  "  Take  you  these  things,  for  you  are  not  Themi- 
stocles."  He  said  to  Antiphates,  a  handsome  young  man, 
who  had  formerly  avoided,  but  now  in  his  glory  courted 
him,  "Time,  young  man,  has  taught  us  both  a  lesson." 
He  said  that  the  Athenians  did  not  honor  him  or  admire 
him,  but  made,  as  it  were,  a  sort  of  plane-tree  of  him ;  shel- 
tered themselves  under  him  in  bad  weather,  and,  as  soon  as 
it  was  fine,  plucked  his  leaves  and  cut  his  branches.  When 
the  Seriphian  told  him  that  he  had  not  obtained  this 
honor  by  himself,  but  by  the  greatness  of  his  city,  he 
replied,  "You  speak  truth;  I  should  never  have  been 
famous  if  I  had  been  of  Seriphus;  nor  you,  had  you 
been  of  Athens."  When  another  of  the  generals,  who 
thought  he  had  performed  considerable  service  for  the 
Athenians,  boastingly  compared  his  actions  with  those  of 
Themistocles,  he  told  him  that  once  upon  a  time  the 
Day  after  the  Festival  found  fault  with  the  Festival :  "  On 
you  there  is  nothing  but  hurry  and  trouble  and  prepara- 
tion, but,  when  I  come,  everybody  sits  down  {|uietly  and 
enjoys  himself; "  which  the  Festival  admitted  was  true, 
but  "  if  I  had  not  come  first,  you  would  not  have  come  at 


252  THEMISTOCLES. 

all."  "  Even  so,"  he  said,  "  if  Themistoeles  had  not  come 
before,  where  had  you  been  now  ? "  Laughing  at  his 
own  son,  who  got  his  mother,  and,  by  his  mother's  means, 
his  father  also,  to  indulge  him,  he  told  him  that  he  had 
the  most  power  of  any  one  in  Greece  :  "  For  the  Athenians 
command  the  rest  of  Greece,  I  command  the  Athenians, 
your  mother  commands  me,  and  you  command  your 
mother."  Loving  to  be  singular  in  all  things,  when  he 
had  land  to  sell,  he  ordered  the  crier  to  give  notice  that 
there  were  good  neighbors  near  it.  Of  two  who  made 
love  to  his  daughter,  he  preferred  the  man  of  worth  to 
the  one  who  was  rich,  saying  he  desired  a  man  without 
riches,  rather  than  riches  without  a  man.  Such  was  the 
character  of  his  sayings. 

After  these  things,  he  began  to  rebuild  and  fortify  the 
city  of  Athens,  bribing,  as  Theopompus  reports,  the  Lace- 
daemonian ephors  not  to  be  against  it,  but,  as  most  relate 
it,  overreaching  and  deceiving  them.  For,  under  pre- 
text of  an  embassy,  he  went  to  Sparta,  where,  upon  the 
Lacedaemonians  charging  him  with  rebuilding  the  walls, 
and  Poliarchus  coming  on  purpose  from  ^Egina  to  de- 
nounce it,  he  denied  the  fact,  bidding  them  to  send  peo- 
ple to  Athens  to  see  whether  it  were  so  or  no ;  by  which 
delay  he  got  time  for  the  building  of  the  wall,  and  also 
placed  these  ambassadors  in  the  hands  of  his  countrymen 
as  hostages  for  him  ;  and  so,  when  the  Lacedaemonians 
knew  the  truth,  they  did  him  no  hurt,  but,  suppressing 
all  display  of  their  anger  for  the  present,  sent  him 
away. 

Next  he  proceeded  to  establish  the  harbor  of  Piraeus, 
observing  the  great  natural  advantages  of  the  locality 
and  desirous  to  unite  the  whole  city  with  the  sea,  and  to 
reverse,  in  a  manner,  the  policy  of  ancient  Athenian 
kings,  who,  endeavoring  to  withdraw  their  subjects  from 
the   sea,  and  to    accustom   them  to  live,  not  by  sailing 


THEMISTOCLES.  253 

about,  but  by  planting  and  tilling  the  earth,  spread  the 
story  of  the  dispute  between  Minerva  and  Neptune  for 
the  sovereignty  of  Athens,  in  which  Minerva,  by  pro- 
ducing to  the  judges  an  olive  tree,  Avas  declared  to  have 
won ;  whereas  Themistocles  did  not  only  knead  up,  as 
Aristophanes  says,  the  port  and  the  city  into  one,  but 
made  the  city  absolutely  the  dependant  and  the  adjunct 
of  the  port,  and  the  land  of  the  sea,  which  increased  the 
power  and  confidence  of  the  people  against  the  nobility; 
the  authority  coming  into  the  hands  of  sailors  and  boat- 
swains and  pilots.  Thus  it  was  one  of  the  orders  of  the 
thirty  tyrants,  that  the  hustings  in  the  assemblj^  which 
had  faced  towards  the  sea,  should  be  turned  round  to- 
wards the  land  ;  implying  their  opinion  that  the  empire 
by  sea  had  been  the  origin  of  the  democracy,  and  that 
the  farming  population  were  not  so  much  opposed  to 
oligarchy. 

Themistocles,  however,  formed  yet  higher  designs  with 
a  view  to  naval  supremacy.  For,  after  the  departure  of 
Xerxes,  when  the  Grecian  fleet  was  arrived  at  Pagasae, 
where  they  wintered,  Themistocles,  in  a  public  oration 
to  the  people  of  Athens,  told  them  that  he  had  a  de- 
sign to  perform  something  that  would  tend  greatly  to 
their  interests  and  safety,  but  was  of  such  a  nature,  that 
it  could  not  be  made  generall}^  public.  The  Athenians 
ordered  him  to  impart  it  to  Aristides  only;  and,  if  he 
approved  of  it,  to  put  it  in  practice.  And  when  Themi- 
stocles had  discovered  to  him  that  his  design  was  to  burn 
the  Grecian  fleet  in  the  haven  of  Pagasse,  Aristides,  com- 
ing out  to  the  people,  gave  this  report  of  the  stratagem 
contrived  by  Themistocles,  that  no  proposal  could  be 
more  politic,  or  more  dishonorable ;  on  which  the  Athe- 
nians commanded  Themistocles  to  think  no  farther  of  it. 

When   the    Lacedasmonians  proposed,  at  the  general 


254  THEMISTOCLES. 

council  of  the  Amphictjonians,  that  the  representatives 
of  those  cities  which  were  not  in  the  league,  nor  had 
fought  against  the  Persians,  should  be  excluded.  The- 
mistocles,  fearing  that,  the  Thessalians,  with  those  of 
Thebes,  Argos,  and  others,  being  thrown  out  of  the  coun- 
cil, the  Lacedaemonians  would  become  wholly  masters  of 
the  votes,  and  do  what  they  pleased,  supported  the  depu- 
ties of  the  cities,  and  prevailed  with  the  members  then 
sitting  to  alter  their  opinion  in  this  point,  showing  them 
that  there  were  but  one  and  thirty  cities  which  had  par- 
taken in  the  war,  and  that  most  of  these,  also,  were  very 
small ;  how  intolerable  would  it  be,  if  the  rest  of  Greece 
should  be  excluded,  and  the  general  council  should 
come  to  be  ruled  by  two  or  three  great  cities.  By  this, 
chiefly,  he  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  Lacedaemonians, 
whose  honors  and  favors  were  now  shown  to  Cimon,  with 
a  view  to  making  him  the  opponent  of  the  state  policy 
of  Themistocles. 

He  was  also  burdensome  to  the  confederates,  sailing 
about  the  islands  and  collecting  money  from  them.  He- 
rodotus says,  that,  requiring  money  of  those  of  the  island 
of  Andros,  he  told  them  that  he  had  brought  with  him 
two  goddesses.  Persuasion  and  Force ;  and  they  answered 
him  that  they  had  also  two  great  goddesses,  which  prohi- 
bited them  from  giving  him  any  money,  Poverty  and 
Impossibility.  Timocreon,  the  Rhodian  poet,  reprehends 
him  somewhat  bitterly  for  being  wrought  upon  by  money 
to  let  some  who  were  banished  return,  while  abandoning 
himself,  who  was  his  guest  and  friend.  The  verses  are 
these :  — 

Pausanias  you  may  praise,  and  Xanthippus  he  be  for, 

For  Leutychidas,  a  third ;  Aristides,  I  proclaim, 

From  the  sacred  Athens  came, 

The  one  true  man  of  all ;  for  Themistocles  Latona  doth  abhor, 


THEMISTOCLES.  256 

The  liar,  traitor,  cheat,  who,  to  gain  his  filthy  pay, 

Timocreon,  his  friend,  neglected  to  restore 

To  his  native  Rhodian  shore ; 

Three  silver  talents  took,  and  departed  (curses  with  him)  on  his  way, 

Restoring  people  here,  expelling  there,  and  killing  here, 
Filling  evermore  his  purse :  and  at  the  Istlimus  gave  a  treat, 
To  be  laughed  at,  of  cold  meat, 

Which  they  ate,  and  prayed  the  gods  some  one  else  might  give  the 
feast  another  year. 

But  after  the  sentence  and  banishment  of  Themistocles, 
Timocreon  reviles  him  yet  more  immoderately  and  wildly 
in  a  poem  which  begins  thus :  — 

Unto  all  the  Greeks  repair 

O  Muse,  and  tell  these  verses  there, 

As  is  fitting  and  is  fair. 

The  story  is,  that  it  was  put  to  the  question  whether 
Timocreon  should  be  banished  for  siding  with  the  Per- 
sians, and  Themistocles  gave  his  vote  against  him.  So 
when  Themistocles  was  accused  of  intriguing  with  the 
Medes,  Timocreon  made  these  lines  upon  him :  — 

So  now  Timocreon,  indeed,  is  not  the  sole  friend  of  the  Mede, 
There  are  some  knaves  besides ;  nor  is  it  only  mine  that  fails, 
But  other  foxes  have  lost  tails.  — 

When  the  citizens  of  Athens  began  to  listen  willingly  to 
those  who  traduced  and  reproached  him,  he  was  forced, 
with  somewhat  obnoxious  frequency,  to  put  them  in  mind 
of  the  great  services  he  had  performed,  and  ask  those 
who  were  offended  with  him  whether  they  were  weary 
with  receiving  benefits  often  from  the  same  person,  so 
rendering  himself  more  odious.  And  he  yet  more  pro- 
voked the  people  by  building  a  temple  to  Diana  with 
the  epithet  of  Aristobule,  or  Diana  of  Best  Counsel ; 
intimating  thereby,  that  he  had  given  the  best  counsel, 


256  THEMISTOCLES. 

not  only  to  the  Athenians,  but  to  all  Greece.  He  built 
this  temple  near  his  own  house,  in  the  district  called 
Melite,  where  now  the  public  officers  carry  out  the  bodies 
of  such  as  are  executed,  and  throw  the  halters  and 
clothes  of  those  that  are  strangled  or  otherwise  put  to 
death.  There  is  to  this  day  a  small  figure  of  Themisto- 
cles  in  the  temple  of  Diana  of  Best  Counsel,  which 
represents  him  to  be  a  person,  not  only  of  a  noble  mind, 
but  also  of  a  most  heroic  aspect.  At  length  the  Athe- 
nians banished  him,  making  use  of  the  ostracism  to  hum- 
ble his  eminence  and  authority,  as  they  ordinarily  did  with 
all  whom  they  thought  too  powerful,  or,  by  their  greatness, 
disproportionable  to  the  equality  thought  requisite  in  a 
popular  government.  For  the  ostracism  was  instituted, 
not  so  much  to  punish  the  offender,  as  to  mitigate  and 
pacify  the  violence  of  the  envious,  who  delighted  to  hum- 
ble eminent  men,  and  who,  by  fixing  this  disgrace  upon 
them,  might  vent  some  part  of  their  rancor. 

Themistocles  being  banished  from  Athens,  while  he 
stayed  at  Argos  the  detection  of  Pausanias  happened, 
which  gave  such  advantage  to  his  enemies,  that  Leobotes 
of  Agraule,  son  of  Alcmceon,  indicted  him  of  treason,  the 
Spartans  supporting  him  in  the  accusation. 

When  Pausanias  went  about  this  treasonable  design, 
he  concealed  it  at  first  from  Themistocles,  though  he  were 
his  intimate  friend ;  but  when  he  saw  him  expelled  out  of 
the  commonwealth,  and  how  impatiently  he  took  his  ban- 
ishment, he  ventured  to  communicate  it  to  him,  and 
desired  his  assistance,  showing  him  the  king  of  Persia's 
letters,  and  exasperating  him  against  the  Greeks,  as  a 
villanous,  ungrateful  people.  However,  Themistocles 
immediately  rejected  the  proposals  of  Pausanias,  and 
wholly  refused  to  be  a  party  in  the  enterprise,  though  he 
never  revealed  his  communications,  nor  disclosed  the  con- 
spiracy to  any  man,  either  hoping  that  Pausanias  would 


THEMISTOCLES.  257 

desist  from  his  intentions,  or  expecting  that  so  inconsider- 
ate an  attempt  after  such  chimerical  objects  would  be  dis- 
covered by  other  means. 

After  that  Pausanias  was  put  to  death,  letters  and  wri- 
tings being  found  concerning  this  matter,  which  rendered 
Themiistocles  suspected,  the  Lacedajmonians  were  clamor- 
ous against  him,  and  his  enemies  among  the  Athenians 
accused  him  ;  when,  being  absent  from  Athens,  he  made 
his  defence  by  letters,  especially  against  the  points  that 
had  been  previously  alleged  against  him.  In  answer  to  the 
malicious  detractions  of  his  enemies,  he  merely  wrote  to 
the  citizens,  urging  that  he  who  was  always  ambitious  to 
govern,  and  not  of  a  character  or  a  disposition  to  serve, 
would  never  sell  himself  and  his  country  into  slavery  to 
a  barbarous  and  hostile  nation. 

Notwithstanding  this,  the  people,  being  persuaded  by 
his  accusers,  sent  officeis  to  take  him  and  bring  him  away 
to  be  tried  before  a  council  of  the  Greeks,  but,  having 
timely  notice  of  it,  he  passed  over  into  the  island  of  Cor- 
cyra,  where  the  state  was  under  obligations  to  him ;  for, 
being  chosen  as  arbitrator  in  a  difference  between  them 
and  the  Corinthians,  he  decided  the  controversy  by  order- 
ing the  Corinthians  to  pay  down,  twenty  talents,  and  de- 
claring the  town  and  island  of  Leucas  a  joint  colony  from 
both  cities.  From  thence  he  tied  into  Epirus,  and,  the 
Athenians  and  Lacedaemonians  still  pursuing  him,  he 
threw  himself  upon  chances  of  safety  that  seemed  all 
but  desperate.  For  he  fled  for  refuge  to  Admetus,  king 
of  the  Molossians,  who  had  formerly  made  some  request 
to  the  Athenians,  when  Themistocles  was  in  the  height 
of  his  authority,  and  had  been  disdainfully  used  and 
insulted  by  him,  and  had  let  it  appear  plain  enough,  that, 
could  he  lay  hold  of  him,  he  would  take  his  revenge. 
Yet  in  this  misfortune,  Themistocles,  fearing  the  recent 
hatred  of   his   neighbors   and   fellow-citizens  more  than 

VOL.  I.  17 


258  THEMISTOCLES. 

the  old  displeasure  of  the  king,  put  himself  at  his  mercy, 
and  became  an  humble  suppliant  to  Admetus,  after  a  pe- 
culiar manner,  different  from  the  custom  of  other  coun- 
tries. For  taking  the  king's  son,  who  was  then  a  child, 
in  his  arms,  he  laid  himself  down  at  his  hearth,  this  being 
the  most  sacred  and  only  manner  of  supplication,  among 
the  Molossians,  which  was  not  to  be  refused.  And  some 
say  that  his  wife,  Phthia,  intimated  to  Theraistocles  this 
way  of  petitioning,  and  placed  her  young  son  with  him 
before  the  hearth  ;  others,  that  king  Admetus,  that  he 
might  be  under  a  religious  obligation  not  to  deliver  him 
up  to  his  pursuers,  prepared  and  enacted  wdth  him  a  sort 
of  stage-play  to  this  effect.  At  this  time,  Epicrates  of 
Acharnae  privately  conveyed  his  wife  and  children  out  of 
Athens,  and  sent  them  hither,  for  which  afterwards 
Cimon  condemned  him  and  put  him  to  death ;  as  Stesim- 
brotus  reports,  and  yet  somehow,  either  forgetting  this 
himself,  or  making  Themistocles  to  be  little  mindful  of  it, 
says  presently  that  he  sailed  into  Sicily,  and  desired  in 
marriage  the  daughter  of  Hiero,  tyrant  of  Syracuse, 
promising  to  bring  the  Greeks  under  his  power ;  and,  on 
Hiero  refusing  him,  departed  thence  into  Asia ;  but  this 
is  not  probable. 

For  Theophrastus  writes,  in  his  work  on  Monarchy, 
that  when  Hiero  sent  race-horses  to  the  Olympian  games, 
and  erected  a  pavilion  sumptuously  furnished,  Themi- 
stocles made  an  oration  to  the  Greeks,  inciting  them  to 
pull  down  the  tyrant's  tent,  and  not  to  suffer  his  horses 
to  run.  Thucydides  says,  that,  passing  over  land  to  the 
iEggean  Sea,  he  took  ship  at  Pydna  in  the  bay  of  Therme, 
not  being  known  to  any  one  in  the  ship,  till,  being  terri- 
fied to  see  the  vessel  driven  by  the  winds  near  to  Naxos, 
which  was  then  besieged  by  the  Athenians,  he  made  him- 
self known  to  the  master  and  pilot,  and,  partly  entreating 
them,  partly  threatening  that  if  they  went  on  shore  he 


THEMISTOCLES.  259 

woiild  accuse  them,  and  make  the  Athenians  to  believe 
that  they  did  not  take  him  in  out  of  ignorance,  but  that 
he  had  corrupted  them  with  money  from  the  beginning, 
he  compelled  them  to  bear  off  and  stand  out  to  sea,  and 
sail  forward  towards  the  coast  of  Asia. 

A  great  part  of  his  estate  was  privately  conveyed 
away  by  his  friends,  and  sent  after  him  by  sea  into  Asia ; 
besides  which,  there  was  discovered  and  confiscated  to  the 
value  of  fourscore  talents,  as  Theophrastus  writes ;  Theo- 
pompus  says  an  hundred ;  though  Themistocles  was  never 
worth  three  talents  before  he  was  concerned  in  public 
affairs. 

When  he  arrived  at  Cyme,  and  understood  that  all 
along  the  coast  there  were  many  laid  wait  for  him,  and 
particularly  Ergo  teles  and  Pythodorus  (for  the  game  was 
worth  the  hunting  for  such  as  were  thankful  to  make 
money  by  any  means,  the  king  of  Persia  having  offered 
by  public  proclamation  two  hundred  talents  to  him  that 
should  take  him),  he  fled  to  ^gae,  a  small  city  of  the  Co- 
hans, where  no  one  knew  him  but  only  his  host  Nico- 
genes,  who  was  the  richest  man  in  ^olia,  and  well  known 
to  the  great  men  of  Inner  Asia.  While  Themistocles  lay 
hid  for  some  days  in  his  house,  one  night,  after  a  sacrifice 
and  supper  ensuing,  Olbius,  the  attendant  upon  Nico- 
genes's  children,  fell  into  a  sort  of  frenzy  and  fit  of  inspi- 
ration, and  cried  out  in  verse,  — 

Night  shall  speak,  and  night  instruct  thee, 
By  the  voice  of  night  conduct  thee. 

After  this,  Themistocles,  going  to  bed,  dreamed  that  he 
saw  a  snake  coil  itself  up  upon  his  belly,  and  so  creep 
to  his  neck;  then,  as  soon  as  it  touched  his  face,  it 
turned  into  an  eagle,  which  spread  its  wings  over  him. 
and  took  him  up  and  flew  away  with  him  a  great  dis- 
tance ;  then  there  appeared  a  herald's  golden  wand,  and 


260  THEMISTOCLES. 

upon  this  at  last  it  set  him  down  securely,  after  infinite 
terror  and  disturbance. 

His  departure  was  effected  by  Nicogenes  by  the  follow- 
ing artifice ;  the  barbarous  nations,  and  amongst  them 
the  Persians  especially,  are  extremely  jealous,  severe,  and 
suspicious  about  their  women,  not  only  their  wives,  but 
also  their  bought  slaves  and  concubines,  whom  they  keep 
so  strictly  that  no  one  ever  sees  them  abroad;  they 
spend  their  lives  shut  up  within  doors,  and,  when  they 
take  a  journey,  are  carried  in  close  tents,  curtained  in  on 
all  sides,  and  set  upon  a  wagon.  Such  a  travelling  car- 
riage being  prepared  for  Themistocles,  they  hid  him  in  it, 
and  carried  him  on  his  journey,  and  told  those  whom 
they  met  or  spoke  with  upon  the  road  that  they  were 
conveying  a  young  Greek  woman  out  of  Ionia  to  a  noble- 
man at  court. 

Thucydides  and  Charon  of  Lampsacus  say  that  Xerxes 
was  dead,  and  that  Themistocles  had  an  interview  with 
his  son ;  but  Ephorus,  Dinon,  Clitarchus,  Heraclides,  and 
many  others,  write  that  he  came  to  Xerxes.  The  chro- 
nological tables  better  agree  with  the  account  of  Thucy- 
dides, and  yet  neither  can  their  statements  be  said  to  be 
quite  set  at  rest. 

When  Themistocles  was  come  to  the  critical  point,  he 
applied  himself  first  to  Artabanus,  commander  of  a  thou- 
sand men,  telling  him  that  he  was  a  Greek,  and  desired  to 
speak  with  the  king  about  important  affairs  concerning 
which  the  king  was  extremely  solicitous.  Artabanus  an- 
swered him,  "  0  stranger,  the  laws  of  men  are  different, 
and  one  thing  is  honorable  to  one  man,  and  to  others 
another;  but  it  is  honorable  for  all  to  honor  and  observe 
their  own  laws.  It  is  the  habit  of  the  Greeks,  we  are 
told,  to  honor,  above  all  things,  liberty  and  equality ;  but 
amongst  our  many  excellent  laws,  we  account  this  the 
most  excellent,  to  honor  the  king,  and  to  worship  him,  as 


THEMISTOCLES.  261 

the  image  of  the  great  preserver  of  the  universe;  if, 
then,  you  shall  consent  to  our  laws,  and  fall  down  before 
the  king  and  worship  him,  you  may  both  see  him  and 
speak  to  him  ;  but  if  your  mind  be  otherwise,  you  must 
make  use  of  others  to  intercede  for  you,  for  it  is  not  the 
national  custom  here  for  the  king  to  give  audience  to 
any  one  that  doth  not  fall  down  before  him."  Themi- 
stocles,  hearing  this,  replied,  "  Artabanus,  I  that  come 
hither  to  increase  the  power  and  glory  of  the  king,  will 
not  only  submit  myself  to  his  laws,  since  so  it  hath 
pleased  the  god  who  exalteth  the  Persian  empire  to  this 
greatness,  but  will  also  cause  many  more  to  be  wor- 
shippers and  adorers  of  the  king.  Let  not  this,  therefore, 
be  an  impediment  why  I  should  not  communicate  to  the 
king  what  I  have  to  impart."  Artabanus  asking  him, 
"  Who  must  we  tell  him  that  you  are  ?  for  your  words 
signify  you  to  be  no  ordinary  person,"  Themistocles  an- 
swered, "  No  man,  0  Artabanus,  must  be  informed  of  this 
before  the  king  himself"  Thus  Phanias  relates ;  to  which 
Eratosthenes,  in  his  treatise  on  Riches,  adds,  that  it  was 
by  the  means  of  a  woman  of  Eretria,  who  was  kept  by 
Artabanus,  that  he  obtained  this  audience  and  interview 
with  him. 

When  he  was  introduced  to  the  king,  and  had  paid  his 
reverence  to  him,  he  stood  silent,  till  the  king  command- 
ing the  interpreter  to  ask  him  who  he  was,  he  rephed, 
"  0  king,  I  am  Themistocles  the  Athenian,  driven  into 
banishment  by  the  Greeks.  The  evils  that  I  have  done 
to  the  Persians  are  numerous ;  but  my  benefits  to  them 
yet  greater,  in  withholding  the  Greeks  from  pursuit,  so 
soon  as  the  deliverance  of  my  own  country  allowed  me  to 
show  kindness  also  to  you.  I  come  with  a  mind  suited 
to  my  present  calamities ;  prepared  alike  for  favors  and 
for  anger;  to  welcome  your  gracious  reconciliation,  and 
to  deprecate  your  wrath.     Take  my  own  countrym(m  for 


262  THElNflSTOCLES. 

witnesses  of  the  services  I  have  done  for  Persia,  and  make 
use  of  this  occasion  to  show  the  world  your  virtue,  rather 
than  to  satisfy  your  indignation.  If  you  save  me,  you 
will  save  your  suppliant;  if  otherwise,  will  destroy  an 
enemy  of  the  Greeks."  He  talked  also  of  divine  admo- 
nitions, such  as  the  vision  which  he  saw  at  Nicogenes's 
house,  and  the  direction  given  him  by  the  oracle  of  Do- 
dona,  where  Jupiter  commanded  him  to  go  to  him  that 
had  a  name  like  his,  by  which  he  understood  that  he  was 
sent  from  Jupiter  to  him,  seeing  that  they  both  were 
great,  and  had  the  name  of  kings. 

The  king  heard  him  attentively,  and,  though  he  ad- 
mired his  temper  and  courage,  gave  him  no  answer  at 
that  time ;  but,  when  he  was  with  his  intimate  friends, 
rejoiced  in  his  great  good  fortune,  and  esteemed  himself 
very  happy  in  this,  and  prayed  to  his  god  Arimanius,  that 
all  his  enemies  might  be  ever  of  the  same  mind  with  the 
Greeks,  to  abuse  and  expel  the  bravest  men  amongst 
them.  Then  he  sacrificed  to  the  gods,  and  presently  fell 
to  drinking,  and  was  so  well  pleased,  that  in  the  night,  in 
the  middle  of  his  sleep,  he  cried  out  for  joy  three  times, 
"  I  have  Themistocles  the  Athenian." 

In  the  morning,  calling  together  the  chief  of  his  court, 
he  had  Themistocles  brought  before  him,  who  expected 
no  good  of  it,  when  he  saw,  for  example,  the  guards 
fiercely  set  against  him  as  soon  as  they  learnt  his  name, 
and  giving  him  ill  language.  As  he  came  forward  towards 
the  king,  who  was  seated,  the  rest  keeping  silence,  pass- 
ing by  Roxanes,  a  commander  of  a  thousand  men,  he 
heard  him,  with  a  slight  groan,  say,  without  stirring  out 
of  his  place,  "  You  subtle  Greek  serpent,  the  king's  good 
genius  hath  brought  thee  hither."  Yet,  when  he  came 
into  the  presence,  and  again  fell  down,  the  king  saluted 
him,  and  spake  to  him  kindly,  telling  him  he  was  now  in- 
debted to  him  two  hundred  talents ;  for  it  was  just  and 


THEMISTOCLES.  263 

reasonable  that  he  should  receive  the  reward  which  was 
proposed  to  whosoever  should  bring  Themistocles ;  and 
promising  much  more,  and  encouraging  him,  he  com- 
manded him  to  speak  freely  what  he  would  concerning 
the  affairs  of  Greece.  Themistocles  replied,  that  a  man's 
discourse  Avas  like  to  a  rich  Persian  carpet,  the  beautiful 
figures  and  patterns  of  which  can  only  be  shown  by  spread- 
ing and  extending  it  out ;  when  it  is  contracted  and  folded 
up,  they  are  obscured  and  lost ;  and,  therefore,  he  desired 
time.  The  king  being  pleased  with  the  comparison,  and 
bidding  him  take  what  time  he  Avould,  he  desired  a  year ; 
in  which  time,  having  learnt  the  Persian  language  suffi- 
ciently, he  spoke  with  the  king  by  himself  without  the 
help  of  an  interpreter,  it  being  supposed  that  he  dis- 
coursed only  about  the  affairs  of  Greece ;  but  there  hap- 
pening, at  the  same  time,  great  alterations  at  court,  and 
removals  of  the  king's  favorites,  he  drew  upon  himself  the 
envy  of  the  great  people,  who  imagined  that  he  had  taken 
the  boldness  to  speak  concerning  them.  For  the  favors 
shown  to  other  strangers  Avere  nothing  in  comparison 
with  the  honors  conferred  on  him ;  the  king  invited  him 
to  partake  of  his  own  pastimes  and  recreations  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  carrying  him  with  him  a-hunting,  and 
made  him  his  intimate  so  far  that  he  permitted  him  to 
see  the  queen-mother,  and  converse  frequently  with  her. 
By  the  king's  command,  he  also  was  made  acquainted 
with  the  Magian  learning. 

When  Demaratus  the  Lacedaemonian,  being  ordered  by 
the  king  to  ask  whatsoever  he  pleased,  and  it  should  im- 
mediately be  granted  him,  desired  that  he  might  make 
his  public  entrance,  and  be  carried  in  state  through  the 
city  of  Sardis,  with  the  tiara  set  in  the  royal  manner  upon 
his  head,  Mithropaustes,  cousin  to  the  king,  touched  him 
on  the  head,  and  told  him  that  he  had  no  brains  for  the 
royal  tiara  to  cover,  and  if  Jupiter  should  give  him  his 


264  THEMISTOCLES. 

lightning  and  thunder,  he  would  not  any  the  more  be 
Jupiter  for  that ;  the  king  also  repulsed  him  with  anger, 
resolving  never  to  be  reconciled  to  him,  but  to  be  inexo- 
rable to  all  supplications  on  his  behalf.  Yet  Themistocles 
pacified  him,  and  prevailed  with  him  to  forgive  him. 
And  it  is  reported,  that  the  succeeding  kings,  in  whose 
reigns  there  was  a  greater  communication  between  the 
Greeks  and  Persians,  when  they  invited  any  considerable 
Greek  into  their  service,  to  encourage  him,  would  write, 
and  promise  him  that  he  should  be  as  great  with  them  as 
Themistocles  had  been.  They  relate,  also,  how  Themisto- 
cles, when  he  was  in  great  prosperity,  and  courted  by 
many,  seeing  himself  splendidly  served  at  his  table, 
turned  to  his  children  and  said,  "  Children,  we  had  been 
undone  if  we  had  not  been  undone."  Most  writers  say 
that  he  had  three  cities  given  him.  Magnesia,  Myus,  and 
Lampsacus,  to  maintain  him  in  bread,  meat,  and  wine^ 
Neanthes  of  Cyzicus,  and  Phanias,  add  two  more,  the  city 
of  Palaescepsis,  to  provide  him  with  clothes,  and  Percote, 
with  bedding  and  furniture  for  his  house. 

As  he  was  going  down  towards  the  sea-coast  to  take 
measures  against  Greece,  a  Persian  whose  name  was 
Epixyes,  governor  of  the  upper  Phrygia,  laid  wait  to  kill 
him,  having  for  that  purpose  provided  a  long  time  before 
a  number  of  Pisidians,  who  were  to  set  upon  him  when 
he  should  stop  to  rest  at  a  city  that  is  called  Lion's-head. 
But  Themistocles,  sleeping  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  saw 
the  Mother  of  the  gods  appear  to  him  in  a  dream  and 
say  unto  him,  "  Themistocles,  keep  back  from  the  Lion's- 
head,  for  fear  you  fall  into  the  lion's  jaws ;  for  this  ad- 
vice I  expect  that  your  daughter  Mnesiptolema  should 
be  my  servant."  Themistocles  was  much  astonished, 
and,  when  he  had  made  his  vows  to  the  goddess,  left  the 
broad  road,  and,  making  a  circuit,  went  another  way, 
changing  his  intended  station  to  avoid  that  place,  and  at 


THEMISTOCLES.  265 

night  took  up  his  rest  in  the  fields.  But  one  of  the 
sumpter-horses,  which  carried  the  furniture  for  his  tent, 
having  fallen  that  day  into  the  river,  his  servants  spread 
out  the  tapestry,  which  was  wet,  and  hung  it  up  to  dry ; 
in  the  mean  time  the  Pisidians  made  towards  them  with 
their  swords  drawn,  and,  not  discerning  exactl}^  by  the 
moon  what  it  was  that  was  stretched  out.  thou<:;ht  it  to 
be  the  tent  of  Themistocles,  and  that  they  should  find 
him  resting  himself  within  it ;  but  when  they  came  near, 
and  lifted  up  the  hangings,  those  who  watched  there  fell 
upon  them  and  took  them.  Themistocles,  having  escaped 
this  great  danger,  in  admiration  of  the  goodness  of  the 
goddess  that  appeared  to  him,  built,  in  memory  of  it,  a 
temple  in  the  city  of  Magnesia,  which  he  dedicated  to 
Dindymene,  Mother  of  the  gods,  in  which  he  conse- 
crated and  devoted  his  daughter  Mnesiptolema  to  her 
service. 

When  he  came  to  Sardis,  he  visited  the  temples  of  the 
gods,  and  observing,  at  his  leisure,  their  buildings,  omor 
ments,  and  the  number  of  their  ofierings,  he  saw  in  the 
temple  of  the  Mother  of  the  gods,  the  statue  of  a  virgin 
in  brass,  two  cubits  high,  called  the  water-bringer.  The- 
mistocles had  caused  this  to  be  made  and  set  up  when  he 
was  surveyor  of  waters  at  Athens,  out  of  the  fines  of 
those  whom  he  detected  in  drawing  oflp  and  diverting 
the  public  water  by  pipes  for  their  private  use ;  and 
whether  he  had  some  regret  to  see  this  image  in  cap- 
tivity, or  was  desirous  to  let  the  Athenians  see  in  what 
great  credit  and  authority  he  was  with  the  king,  he  en- 
tered into  a  treaty  with  the  governor  of  Lydia  to  per- 
suade him  to  send  this  statue  back  to  Athens,  which  so 
enraged  the  Persian  officer,  that  he  told  him  he  would 
write  the  king  word  of  it  Themistocles,  being  afirighted 
hereat,  got  access  to  his  wives  and  concubines,  by  pre- 
sents of  money  to  whom,  he  appeased  the  fury  of  the  gov- 


266  THEMISTOCLES. 

ernor;  and  afterwards  behaved  with  more  reserve  and 
circumspection,  fearing  the  envy  of  the  Persians,  and  did 
not,  as  Theopompus  writes,  continue  to  travel  about  Asia, 
but  lived  quietly  in  his  own  house  in  Magnesia,  where 
for  a  long  time  he  passed  his  days  in  great  security,  being 
courted  by  all,  and  enjoying  rich  presents,  and  honored 
equally  with  the  greatest  persons  in  the  Persian  empire ; 
the  king,  at  that  time,  not  minding  his  concerns  with 
Greece,  being  taken  up  with  the  affairs  of  Inner  Asia. 

But  when  Egypt  revolted,  being  assisted  by  the  Athe- 
nians, and  the  Greek  galleys  roved  about  as  far  as  Cyprus 
and  Cilicia,  and  Cimon  had  made  himself  master  of  the 
seas,  the  king  turned  his  thoughts  thither,  and,  bending 
his  mind  chiefly  to  resist  the  Greeks,  and  to  check  the 
growth  of  their  power  against  him,  began  to  raise  forces, 
and  send  out  commanders,  and  to  despatch  messengers  to 
Themistocles  at  Magnesia,  to  put  him  in  mind  of  his  pro- 
mise, and  to  summon  him  to  act  against  the  Greeks.  Yet 
this  did  not  increase  his  hatred  nor  exasperate  him  against 
the  Athenians,  neither  was  he  any  way  elevated  with  the 
thoughtsof  the  honor  and  powerful  command  he  was  to  have 
in  this  war ;  but  judging,  perhaps,  that  the  object  would  not 
be  attained,  the  Greeks  having  at  that  time,  beside  other 
great  commanders,  Cimon,  in  particular,  who  was  gaining 
wonderful  military  successes ;  but  chiefly,  being  ashamed 
to  sully  the  glory  of  his  former  great  actions,  and  of  his 
many  victories  and  trophies,  he  determined  to  put  a  con- 
clusion to  his  life,  agreeable  to  its  previous  course.  He 
sacrificed  to  the  gods,  and  invited  his  friends ;  and,  having 
entertained  them  and  shaken  hands  with  them,  drank 
bull's  blood,  as  is  the  usual  story ;  as  others  state,  a  poi- 
son producing  instant  death ;  and  ended  his  days  in  the 
city  of  Magnesia,  having  lived  sixty-five  years,  most  of 
which  he  had  spent  in  politics  and  in  the  wars,  in  govern- 
ment and  command.     The  king,  being  informed  of  the 


THEMISTOCLES.  267 

cause  and  manner  of  his  death,  admired  him  more  than 
ever,  and  continued  to  show  kindness  to  his  friends  and 
relations. 

Themistocles  left  three  sons  by  Archippe,  daughter  to 
Lysander  of  Alopece, — Archeptolis,  Polyeuctus,  and  Cleo- 
phantus.  Plato  the  philosopher  mentions  the  last  as  a 
most  excellent  horseman,  but  otherwise  insignificant 
person ;  of  two  sons  yet  older  than  these,  Neocles  and 
Diodes,  Neocles  died  when  he  was  young  by  the  bite  of 
a  horse,  and  Diodes  was  adopted  by  his  grandfather,  Ly- 
sander. He  had  many  daughters,  of  whom  Mnesiptolema, 
whom  he  had  by  a  second  marriage,  was  wife  to  Arche- 
ptolis, her  brother  by  another  mother ;  Italia  was  married 
to  Panthoides,  of  the  island  of  Chios ;  Sybaris  to  Nico- 
medes  the  Athenian.  After  the  death  of  Themistocles, 
his  nephew,  Phrasicles,  went  to  Magnesia,  and  married, 
with  her  brothers'  consent,  another  daughter,  Nicomache, 
and  took  charge  of  her  sister  Asia,  the  youngest  of  all  the 
children. 

The  Magnesians  possess  a  splendid  sepulchre  of  The 
mistocles,  placed  in  the  middle  of  their  market-place. 
It  is  not  worth  while  taking  notice  of  what  Ando- 
cides  states  in  his  Address  to  his  Friends  concerning 
his  remains,  how  the  Athenians  robbed  his  tomb,  and 
threw  his  ashes  into  the  air;  for  he  feigns  this,  to  exas- 
perate the  oligarchical  faction  against  the  people ;  and 
there  is  no  man  living  but  knows  that  Phylarchus  simply 
invents  in  his  history,  where  he  all  but  uses  an  actual  stage 
machine,  and  brings  in  Neocles  and  Demopolis  as  the 
sons  of  Themistocles,  to  incite  or  move  compassion,  as  if 
he  were  writing  a  tragedy.  Diodorus  the  cosmographer 
says,  in  his  work  on  Tombs,  but  by  conjecture  rather  than 
of  certain  knowledge,  that  near  to  the  haven  of  Pira3us, 
where  the  land  runs  out  like  an  elbow  from  the  promon- 
tory of  Alcimus,  when  you  have  doubled  the  cape  and 


268  THEMISTOCLES. 

passed  inward  where  the  sea  is  always  calm,  there  is  a 
large  piece  of  masonry,  and  upon  this  the  tomb  of  The- 
mistocles,  in  the  shape  of  an  altar ;  and  Plato  the  come- 
dian confirms  this,  he  believes,  in  these  verses,  — 

Thy  tomb  is  fairly  placed  upon  the  strand, 
Where  merchants  still  shall  greet  it  with  the  land ; 
Still  in  and  out  't  will  see  them  come  and  go, 
And  watch  the  galleys  as  they  race  below. 

Various  honors  also  and  privileges  were  granted  to  the 
kindred  of  Themistocles  at  Magnesia,  which  were  observed 
down  to  our  times,  and  were  enjoyed  by  another  The- 
mistocles of  Athens,  with  whom  I  had  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance and  friendship  in  the  house  of  Ammoniua 
the  philosopher. 


C  A  MILLU  S. 


AsiONG  the  many  remarkable  things  that  are  related 
of  Furiiis  Camillus,  it  seems  singular  and  strange  above 
all,  that  he,  who  continually  was  in  the  highest  com- 
mands, and  obtained  the  greatest  successes,  was  five 
times  chosen  dictator,  triumphed  four  times,  and  was 
styled  a  second  founder  of  Rome,  yet  never  was  so  much 
as  once  consul.  The  reason  of  which  was  the  state  and 
temper  of  the  commonwealth  at  that  time ;  for  the  peo- 
ple, being  at  dissension  with  the  senate,  refused  to  return 
consuls,  but  in  their  stead  elected  other  magistrates,  called 
military  tribunes,  who  acted,  indeed,  with  full  consular 
power,  but  were  thought  to  exercise  a  less  obnoxious 
amount  of  authority,  because  it  was  divided  among  a 
larger  number;  for  to  have  the  management  of  affairs 
intrusted  in  the  hands  of  six  persons  rather  than  two 
was  some  satisfaction  to  the  opponents  of  oligarchy. 
This  was  the  condition  of  the  times  when  Camillus  was 
in  the  height  of  his  actions  and  glory,  and,  although  the 
government  in  the  meantime  had  often  proceeded  to  con- 
sular elections,  yet  he  could  never  persuade  himself  to 
be  consul  against  the  inclination  of  the  people.  In  all 
his  other  administrations,  which  were  many  and  various, 
he  so  behaved  himself,  that,  when  alone  in  authority,  he 
exercised  his  power  as  in  common,  but  the  honor  of  all 

23  *  (  269  ) 


270  CAl^IILLUS. 

actions  redounded  entirely  to  himself,  even  when  in  joint 
commission  with  others ;  the  reason  of  the  former  was  his 
moderation  in  command ;  of  the  latter,  his  great  judg- 
ment and  wisdom,  which  gave  him  without  controversy 
the  first  place. 

The  house  of  the  Eurii  was  not,  at  that  time,  of  any 
considerable  distinction ;  he,  by  his  own  acts,  first  raised 
himself  to  honor,  serving  under  Postumius  Tubertus, 
dictator,  in  the  great  battle  against  the  ^quians  and 
\^olscians.  For  riding  out  from  the  rest  of  the  army,  and 
in  the  charge  receiving  a  wound  in  his  thigh,  he  for  all 
that  did  not  quit  the  fight,  but,  letting  the  dart  drag  in 
the  wound,  and  engaging  with  the  bravest  of  the  enemy, 
put  them  to  flight ;  for  which  action,  among  other  re- 
wards bestowed  on  him,  he  was  created  censor,  an  office 
in  those  days  of  great  repute  and  authority.  During 
his  censorship  one  very  good  act  of  his  is  recorded,  that, 
whereas  the  wars  had  made  many  widows,  he  obliged 
such  as  had  no  wives,  some  by  fair  persuasion,  others  by 
threatening  to  set  fines  on  their  heads,  to  take  them  in 
marriage ;  another  necessary  one,  in  causing  orphans  to 
be  rated,  who  before  v/ere  exempted  from  taxes,  the  fre- 
quent wars  requiring  more  than  ordinary  expenses  to 
maintain  them.  What,  however,  pressed  them  most  was 
the  siege  of  Veii.  Some  call  this  people  Veientanl.  This 
was  the  head  city  of  Tuscany,  not  inferior  to  Rome, 
either  in  number  of  arms  or  multitude  of  soldiers,  inso- 
much that,  presuming  on  her  wealth  and  luxury,  and  pri- 
ding herself  upon  her  refinement  and  sumptuousness,  she 
engaged  in  many  honorable  contests  with  the  Romans 
for  glory  and  empire.  But  now  they  had  abandoned 
their  former  ambitious  hopes,  having  been  weakened  by 
great  defeats,  so  that,  having  fortified  themselves  with 
high  and  strong  walls,  and  furnished  the  city  with  all 
sorts  of  weapons  offensive  and  defensive,  as  likewise  with 


CAMILLUS.  271 

corn  and  all  manner  of  provisions,  they  cheerfully  en- 
dured a  siege,  which,  though  tedious  to  them,  was  no  less 
troublesome  and  distressing  to  the  besiegers.  For  the 
Romans,  having  never  been  accustomed  to  stay  away  from 
home,  except  in  summer,  and  for  no  great  length  of  time, 
and  constantly  to  winter  at  home,  were  then  first  com- 
pelled by  the  tribunes  to  build  forts  in  the  enemy's 
country,  and,  raising  strong  works  about  their  camp,  to 
join  winter  and  summer  together.  And  now,  the  seventh 
year  of  the  war  drawing  to  an  end,  the  commanders 
began  to  be  suspected  as  too  slow  and  remiss  in  driving 
on  the  siege,  insomuch  that  they  were  discharged  and 
others  chosen  for  the  war,  among  whom  was  Camillus, 
then  second  time  tribune.  But  at  present  he  had  no 
hand  in  the  siege,  the  duties  that  fell  by  lot  to  him  being 
to  make  war  upon  the  Faliscans  and  Capenates,  who, 
taking  advantage  of  the  Romans  being  occupied  on  all 
hands,  had  carried  ravages  into  their  country,  and,  through 
all  the  Tuscan  war,  given  them  much  annoyance,  but 
were  now  reduced  by  Camillus,  and  with  great  loss  shut 
up  within  their  walls. 

And  now,  in  the  very  heat  of  the  war,  a  strange  phe- 
nomenon in  the  Alban  lake,  which,  in  the  absence  of  any 
known  cause  and  explanation  by  natural  reasons,  seemed 
as  great  a  prodigy  as  the  most  incredible  that  are  report- 
ed, occasioned  great  alarm.  It  was  the  beginning  of 
autumn,  and  the  summer  now  ending  had,  to  all  observa- 
tion, been  neither  rainy  nor  much  troubled  with  southern 
winds;  and  of  the  many  lakes,  brooks,  and  springs  of 
all  sorts  with  which  Italy  abounds,  some  were  wholly 
dried  up,  others  drew  very  little  water  with  them;  all 
the  rivers,  as  is  usual  in  summer,  ran  in  a  very  low  and 
hollow  channel.  But  the  Alban  lake,  that  is  fed  by 
no  other  waters  but  its  own,  and  is  on  all  sides  encircled 


272  CAMILLU8. 

with  fruitful  mountains,  without  any  cause,  unless  it  were 
divine,  began  visibly  to  rise  and  swell,  increasing  to  the 
feet  of  the  mountains,  and  by  degrees  reaching  the  level 
of  the  very  tops  of  them,  and  all  this  without  any  waves 
or  agitation.  At  first  it  w^as  the  wonder  of  shepherds 
and  herdsmen ;  but  when  the  earth,  which,  like  a  great 
dam,  held  up  the  lake  from  falling  into  the  lower  grounds, 
through  the  quantity  and  weight  of  water  was  broken 
down,  and  in  a  violent  stream  it  ran  through  the 
ploughed  fields  and  plantations  to  discharge  itself  in  the 
sea,  it  not  only  struck  terror  into  the  Romans,  but  was 
thought  by  all  the  inhabitants  of  Italy  to  portend  some 
extraordinary  event.  But  the  greatest  talk  of  it  was  in 
the  camp  that  besieged  Veii,  so  that  in  the  town  itself, 
also,  the  occurrence  became  known. 

As  in  long  sieges  it  commonly  happens  that  parties  on 
both  sides  meet  often  and  converse  with  one  another,  so 
it  chanced  that  a  Roman  had  gained  much  confidence 
and  familiarity  with  one  of  the  besieged,  a  man  versed 
in  ancient  prophecies,  and  of  repute  for  more  than  ordi- 
nary skill  in  divination.  The  Roman,  observing  him  to 
be  overjoyed  at  the  story  of  the  lake,  and  to  mock  at  the 
siege,  told  him  that  this  was  not  the  only  prodigy  that  of 
late  had  happened  to  the  Romans ;  others  more  wonder- 
ful yet  than  this  had  befallen  them,  which  he  was  willing 
to  communicate  to  him,  that  he  might  the  better  provide 
for  his  private  interests  in  these  public  distempers.  The 
man  greedily  embraced  the  proposal,  expecting  to  hear 
some  wonderful  secrets ;  but  when,  by  little  and  little,  he 
had  led  him  on  in  conversation,  and  insensibly  drawn 
him  a  good  way  from  the  gates  of  the  city,  he  snatched 
him  up  by  the  middle,  being  stronger  than  he,  and,  by 
the  assistance  of  others  that  came  running  from  the 
camp,  seized  and  delivered  him  to  the  commanders.    The 


CAMILLUS.  273 

man,  reduced  to  this  necessity,  and  sensible  now  that 
destiny  was  not  to  be  avoided,  discovered  to  them  the 
secret  oracles  of  Veii ;  that  it  was  not  possible  the  city 
should  be  taken,  until  the  Alban  lake,  which  now  broke 
forth  and  had  found  out  new  passages,  was  drawn  back 
from  that  course,  and  so  diverted  that  it  could  not  mingle 
with  the  sea.  The  senate,  having  heard  and  satisfied 
themselves  about  the  matter,  decreed  to  send  to  Delphi, 
to  ask  counsel  of  the  god.  The  messengers  were  persons 
of  the  highest  repute,  Licinius  Cossus,  Valerius  Potitus, 
and  Fabius  Ambustus;  who,  having  made  their  voyage 
by  sea  and  consulted  the  god,  returned  with  other  an- 
swers, particularly  that  there  had  been  a  neglect  of  some 
of  their  national  rites  relating  to  the  Latin  feasts ;  but  the 
Alban  water  the  oracle  commanded,  if  it  were  possible, 
they  should  keep  from  the  sea,  and  shut  it  up  in  its  an- 
cient bounds ;  but  if  that  was  not  to  be  done,  then  they 
should  carry  it  off  by  ditches  and  trenches  into  the  lower 
grounds,  and  so  dry  it  up ;  which  message  being  deliv- 
ered, the  priests  performed  what  related  to  the  sacrifices, 
and  the  people  went  to  work  and  turned  the  water. 

And  now  the  senate,  in  the  tenth  year  of  the  war, 
taking  away  all  other  commands,  created  Camillus  dicta- 
tor, who  chose  Cornelius  Scipio  for  his  general  of  horse. 
And  in  the  first  place  he  made  vows  unto  the  gods,  that, 
if  they  would  grant  a  happy  conclusion  of  the  war,  he 
would  celebrate  to  their  honor  the  great  games,  and  dedi- 
cate a  temple  to  the  goddess  whom  the  Romans  call 
Matuta  the  Mother,  though,  from  the  ceremonies  which 
are  used,  one  would  think  she  was  Leucothea.  For 
they  take  a  servant-maid  into  the  secret  part  of  the  tem- 
ple, and  there  cuff  her,  and  drive  her  out  again,  and  they 
embrace  their  brothers'  children  in  place  of  their  own : 
and,  in  general,  the  ceremonies  of  the  sacrifice  remind 
one  of  the  nursing  of  Bacchus  by  Ino,  and  the  calamities 

VOL.   I.  18 


274  CAMILLUS. 

occasioned  by  her  husband's  concubine  *  Camillus,  hav- 
ing made  these  vows,  marched  into  the  country  of  the 
Faliscans,  and  in  a  great  battle  overthrew  them  and  the 
Capenates,  their  confederates;  afterwards  he  turned  to 
the  siege  of  Veii,  and,  finding  that  to  take  it  by  assault 
would  prove  a  difi&cult  and  hazardous  attempt,  proceeded 
to  cut  mines  under  ground,  the  earth  about  the  city  being 
easy  to  break  up,  and  allowing  such  depth  for  the  works 
as  would  prevent  their  being  discovered  by  the  enemy. 
This  design  going  on  in  a  hopeful  way,  he  openly  gave 
assaults  to  the  enemy,  to  keep  them  to  the  walls,  whilst 
they  that  worked  underground  in  the  mines  were,  with- 
out being  perceived,  arrived  within  the  citadel,  close  to 
the  temple  of  Juno,  which  was  the  greatest  and  most 
honored  in  all  the  city.  It  is  said  that  the  prince  of  the 
Tuscans  was  at  that  very  time  at  sacrifice,  and  that  the 
priest,  after  he  had  looked  into  the  entrails  of  the  beast, 
cried  out  wath  a  loud  voice  that  the  gods  would  give  the 
victory  to  those  that  should  complete  those  oflferings; 
and  that  the  Romans  who  were  in  the  mines,  hearing  the 
words,  immediately  pulled  down  the  floor,  and,  ascending 
with  noise  and  clashing  of  weapons,  frighted  away  the 
enemy,  and,  snatching  up  the  entrails,  carried  them  to 
Camillus.  But  this  may  look  like  a  fable.  The  city, 
however,  being  taken  by  storm,  and  the  soldiers  busied 
in  pillaging  and  gathering  an  infinite  quantity  of  riches  and 
spoil,  Camillus,  from  the  high  tower,  viewing  what  was 
done,  at  first  wept  for  pity ;  and  when  they  that  were  by 
congratulated  his  good  success,  he  lifted  up  his  hands  to 
heaven,  and  broke  out  into  this  prayer :  "  0  most  mighty' 


*  Ino,  daughter  of  Cadmus  and  in  his  Roman  Questions,  in  a  fit  of 

Harmonia,   nursed  her   sister   Se-  frantic  jealousy  of  her  husband's 

male's  child,  the  infant  Bacchus,  and  concubine,    an     ^tolian    servant- 

afterwards,  according  to  the  story  maid,  killed  her  own  child, 
followed  by  Plutarch  both  here  and 


CAMILLUS.  275 

Jupiter,  and  ye  gods  that  are  judges  of  good  and  evil 
actions,  ye  know  that  not  without  just  cause,  but  con- 
strained by  necessity,  we  have  been  forced  to  revenge 
ourselves  on  the  city  of  our  unrighteous  and  wicked  ene- 
mies. But  if,  in  the  vicissitude  of  things,  there  be  any 
calamity  due,  to  counterbalance  this  great  felicity,  I  beg 
that  it  may  be  diverted  from  the  city  and  army  of  the 
Romans,  and  fall,  with  as  little  hurt  as  may  be,  upon  my 
own  head."  Having  said  these  words,  and  just  turning 
about  (as  the  custom  of  the  Romans  is  to  turn  to  the 
right  after  adoration  or  prayer),  he  stumbled  and  fell,  to 
the  astonishment  of  all  that  were  present.  But,  recover- 
ing himself  presently  from  the  fall,  he  told  them  that  he 
had  received  what  he  had  prayed  for,  a  small  mischance, 
in  compensation  for  the  greatest  good  fortune. 

Having  sacked  the  city,  he  resolved,  according  as  he 
had  vowed,  to  carry  Juno's  image  to  Rome ;  and,  the 
workmen  being  ready  for  that  purpose,  he  sacrificed  to 
the  goddess,  and  made  his  supplications  that  she  would 
be  pleased  to  accept  of  their  devotion  toward  her,  and 
graciously  vouchsafe  to  accept  of  a  place  among  the  gods 
that  presided  at  Rome ;  and  the  statue,  they  say,  an- 
swered in  a  low  voice  that  she  was  ready  and  willing  to 
go.  Livy  writes,  that,  in  praying,  Camillus  touched  the 
goddess,  and  invited  her,  and  that  some  of  the  standers-by 
cried  out  that  she  was  willing  and  would  come.  They  who 
stand  up  for  the  miracle  and  endeavor  to  maintain  it 
have  one  great  advocate  on  their  side  in  the  wonderful 
fortune  of  the  city,  which,  from  a  small  and  contemptible 
beginning,  could  never  have  attained  to  that  greatness 
and  power  without  many  signal  manifestations  of  the 
divine  presence  and  cooperation.  Other  wonders  of  the 
like  nature,  drops  of  sweat  seen  to  stand  on  statues, 
groans  heard  from  them,  the  figures  seen  to  turn  round 
and  to  close  their  eyes,  are  recorded  by  many  ancient 


276  CAMILLUS. 

historians ;  and  we  ourselves  could  relate  divers  wonder- 
ful things,  which  we  have  been  told  by  men  of  our  own 
time,  that  are  not  lightly  to  be  rejected ;  but  to  give  too 
easy  credit  to  such  things,  or  wholly  to  disbelieve  them, 
is  equally  dangerous,  so  incapable  is  human  infirmity  of 
keeping  any  bounds,  or  exercising  command  over  itself, 
running  ofi*  sometimes  to  superstition  and  dotage,  at 
other  times  to  the  contempt  and  neglect  of  all  that  is 
supernatural.  But  moderation  is  best,  and  to  avoid  all 
extremes. 

Camillus,  however,  whether  puffed  up  with  the  great- 
ness of  his  achievement  in  conquering  a  city  that  was  the 
rival  of  Rome,  and  had  held  out  a  ten  years'  siege,  or 
exalted  with  the  felicitations  of  those  that  were  about 
him,  assumed  to  himself  more  than  became  a  civil  and 
legal  magistrate ;  among  other  things,  in  the  pride  and 
haughtiness  of  his  triumph,  driving  through  Eome  in  a 
chariot  drawn  with  four  white  horses,  which  no  general 
either  before  or  since  ever  did ;  for  the  Romans  consider 
such  a  mode  of  conveyance  to  be  sacred,  and  specially  set 
apart  to  the  king  and  father  of  the  gods.  This  alienated 
the  hearts  of  his  fellow-citizens,  who  were  not  accustomed 
to  such  pomp  and  display. 

The  second  pique  they  had  against  him  was  his  oppo- 
sing the  law  by  which  the  city  was  to  be  divided  ;  for  the 
tribunes  of  the  people  brought  forward  a  motion  that  the 
people  and  senate  should  be  divided  into  two  parts,  one 
of  which  should  remain  at  home,  the  other,  as  the  lot 
should  decide,  remove  to  the  new-taken  city.  By  which 
means  they  should  not  only  have  much  more  room,  but, 
by  the  advantage  of  two  great  and  magnificent  cities,  be 
better  able  to  maintain  their  territories  and  their  fortunes 
in  general.  The  people,  therefore,  who  were  numerous 
and  indigent,  greedily  embraced  it,  and  crowded  continu- 
ally to  the  forum,  with  tumultuous  demands  to  have  it 


CAMILLUS.  277 

put  to  the  vote.  But  the  senate  and  the  noblest  citizens, 
judging  the  proceedings  of  the  tribunes  to  tend  rather  to 
a  destruction  than  a  division  of  Rome,  greatly  averse 
to  it,  went  to  Camillus  for  assistance,  who,  fearing  the 
result  if  it  came  to  a  direct  contest,  contrived  to  occupy 
the  people  with  other  business,  and  so  staved  it  off.  He 
thus  became  unpopular.  But  the  greatest  and  most  ap- 
parent cause  of  their  dislike  against  him  arose  from  the 
tenths  of  the  spoil ;  the  multitude  having  here,  if  not  a 
just,  yet  a  plausible  case  against  him.  For  it  seems,  as 
he  went  to  the  siege  of  Veii,  he  had  vowed  to  Apollo  that 
if  he  took  the  city  he  would  dedicate  to  him  the  tenth  of 
the  spoil.  The  city  being  taken  and  sacked,  whether  he 
was  loath  to  trouble  the  soldiers  at  that  time,  or  that 
through  the  multitude  of  business  he  had  forgotten  his 
vow,  he  suffered  them  to  enjoy  that  part  of  the  spoils 
also.  Some  time  afterwards,  when  his  authority  was  laid 
down,  he  brought  the  matter  before  the  senate,  and  the 
priests,  at  the  same  time,  reported,  out  of  the  sacrifices, 
that  there  were  intimations  of  divine  anger,  requiring 
propitiations  and  offerings.  The  senate  decreed  the  obli- 
gation to  be  in  force. 

But  seeing  it  was  difficult  for  every  one  to  produce  the 
very  same  things  they  had  taken,  to  be  divided  anew, 
they  ordained  that  every  one  upon  oath  should  bring  into 
the  public  the  tenth  part  of  his  gains.  This  occasioned 
many  annoyances  and  hardships  to  the  soldiers,  who  were 
poor  men,  and  had  endured  much  in  the  war,  and  now 
were  forced,  out  of  what  they  had  gained  and  spent,  to 
bring  in  so  great  a  proportion.  Camillus,  being  assaulted 
by  their  clamor  and  tumults,  for  want  of  a  better  excuse, 
betook  himself  to  the  poorest  of  defences,  confessing  he 
had  forgotten  his  vow ;  they  in  turn  complained  that  lie 
had  vowed  the  tenth  of  the  enemy's  goods,  and  now  levied 
it  out  of  the  tenths  of  the  citizens.     Nevertheless,  every 


278  CAISIILLUS. 

one  having  brought  in  his  due  proportion,  it  was  decreed 
that  out  of  it  a  bowl  of  massy  gold  should  be  made,  and 
sent  to  Delphi.  And  when  there  was  great  scarcity  of 
gold  in  the  city,  and  the  magistrates  were  considering 
where  to  get  it,  the  Roman  ladies,  meeting  together  and 
consulting  among  themselves,  out  of  the  golden  ornaments 
they  wore  contributed  as  much  as  went  to  the  making  the 
offering,  which  in  weight  came  to  eight  talents  of  gold. 
The  senate,  to  give  them  the  honor  they  had  deserved, 
ordained  that  funeral  orations  should  be  used  at  the  obse- 
quies of  women  as  well  as  men,  it  having  never  before 
been  a  custom  that  any  woman  after  death  should  receive 
any  public  eulogy.  Choosing  out,  therefore,  three  of  the 
noblest  citizens  as  a  deputation,  they  sent  them  in  a  ves- 
sel of  war,  well  manned  and  sumptuously  adorned.  Storm 
and  calm  at  sea  may  both,  they  say,  alike  be  dangerous ; 
as  they  at  this  time  experienced,  being  brought  almost 
to  the  very  brink  of  destruction,  and,  beyond  all  expecta- 
tion, escaping.  For  near  the  isles  of  ^olus  the  wind 
slacking,  galleys  of  the  Lipareans  came  upon  them,  taking 
them  for  pirates ;  and,  when  they  held  up  their  hands  as 
suppliants,  forbore  indeed  from  violence,  but  took  their 
ship  in  tow,  and  carried  her  into  the  harbor,  where  they 
exposed  to  sale  their  goods  and  persons  as  lawful  prize, 
they  being  pirates;  and  scarcely,  at  last,  by  the  virtue 
and  interest  of  one  man,  Timesitheus  by  name,  who  was 
in  office  as  general,  and  used  his  utmost  persuasion,  they 
were,  with  much  ado,  dismissed.  He,  however,  himself 
sent  out  some  of  his  own  vessels  with  them,  to  accom- 
pany them  in  their  voyage  and  assist  them  at  the  dedica- 
tion ;  for  which  he  received  honors  at  Rome,  as  he  had 
deserved. 

And  now  the  tribunes  of  the  people  again  resuming 
their  motion  for  the  division  of  the  city,  the  war  against 
the  Faliscans  luckily  broke  out,  giving  liberty  to  the  chief 


CAMILLUS.  279 

citizens  to  choose  what  magistrates  they  pleased,  and  to 
appoint  Camillus  military  tribune,  with  five  colleagues; 
affairs  then  requiring  a  commander  of  authority  and  repu- 
tation, as  well  as  experience.  And  when  the  people  had 
ratified  the  election,  he  marched  with  his  forces  into  the 
territories  of  the  Faliscans,  and  laid  siege  to  Falerii,  a 
well-fortified  city,  and  plentifully  stored  with  all  neces- 
saries of  war.  And  although  he  perceived  it  would  be 
no  small  work  to  take  it,  and  no  little  time  would  be 
required  for  it,  yet  he  was  willing  to  exercise  the  citizens 
and  keep  them  abroad,  that  they  might  have  no  leisure, 
idling  at  home,  to  follow  the  tribunes  in  factions  and  sedi- 
tions ;  a  very  common  remedy,  indeed,  with  the  Romans, 
who  thus  carried  off,  like  good  physicians,  the  ill  humors 
of  their  commonwealth.  The  Falerians,*  trusting  in  the 
strength  of  their  city,  which  was  well  fortified  on  all  sides, 
made  so  little  account  of  the  siege,  that  all,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  those  that  guarded  the  walls,  as  in  times  of 
peace,  walked  about  the  streets  in  their  common  dress; 
the  boys  went  to  school,  and  were  led  by  their  master  to 
play  and  exercise  about  the  town  walls ;  for  the  Falerians, 
like  the  Greeks,  used  to  have  a  single  teacher  for  many 
pupils,  wishing  their  children  to  live  and  be  brought  up 
from  the  beginning  in  each  other's  company. 

This  schoolmaster,  designing  to  betray  the  Falerians  by 
their  children,  led  them  out  every  day  under  the  town 
wall,  at  first  but  a  little  way,  and,  when  they  had  exer- 
cised, brought  them  home  again.  Afterwards  by  degrees 
he  drew  them  farther  and  farther,  till  by  practice  he 
had  made  them  bold  and  fearless,  as  if  no  danger  was 
about  them ;  and  at  last,  having  got  them  all  together, 
he  brought  them  to  the  outposts  of  the  Romans,  and  de- 
livered  them    up,   demanding   to   be    led    to    Camillus. 

*  The  Falerians,  in  this  narra-  the  Faliscans,  the  nation  in  gen- 
tive,  are  the  people  of  the  town;     eral. 


280  CAMILLUS. 

Where  being  come,  and  standing  in  the  middle,  he  said 
that  he  was  the  master  and  teacher  of  these  children, 
but,  preferring  his  favor  before  all  other  obligations,  he 
was  come  to  deliver  up  his  charge  to  him,  and,  in  that, 
the  whole  city.     When  Camillus  had  heard  hira  out,  he 
was  astounded  at  the  treachery  of  the  act,  and,  turning 
to    the  standers-by,  observed,  that   "  war,  indeed,  is  of 
necessity  attended   with   much   injustice    and  violence! 
Certain  laws,  however,  all  good  men  observe  even  in  war 
itself,  nor  is  victory  so  great  an  object  as  to  induce  us  to 
incur  for  its  sake  obligations  for  base  and  impious  acts. 
A  great  general  should  rely  on  his  own  virtue,  and  not 
on  other  men's  vices.'*     Which  said,  he   commanded  the 
officers  to  tear  off  the  man's  clothes,  and  bind  his  hands 
behind  him,  and  give  the  boys  rods  and  scourges,  to  punish 
the  traitor  and  drive  him  back  to  the  city.     By  this  time 
the  Falerians  had  discovered  the  treachery  of  the  school- 
master, and  the  city,  as  was  likely,  was  full  of  lamenta- 
tions and  cries  for  their  calamity,  men  and  women  of 
worth  running  in  distraction  about  the  walls  and  gates ; 
when,  behold,  the  boys  came  whipping  their  master  on, 
naked    and  bound,  calling  Camillus  their  preserver  and 
god  and  father.     Insomuch  that  it  struck  not  only  into 
the  parents,  but  the  rest  of  the  citizens  that  saw  what 
was  done,  such  admiration  and  love  of  Camillus's  justice, 
that,  immediately  meeting  in  assembly,  they  sent  ambas- 
sadors to  him,  to  resign  whatever  they  had  to  his  disposal 
Camillus  sent  them  to  Rome,  where,  being  brought  into 
the  senate,  they  spoke  to  this  purpose :  that  the  Romans, 
preferring  justice  before  victory,  had  taught  them  rather 
to  embrace  submission  than  liberty ;  they  did  not  so  much 
confess  themselves   to  be  inferior  in  strength,  as  they 
must  acknowledge  them  to  be  superior  in  virtue.     The 
senate  remitted  the  whole  matter  to  Camillus,  to  judge 
and  order  as  he  thought  fit ;  who,  taking  a  sum  of  money 


CAMILLUS.  281 

of  tbe  Falerians,  and,  making  a  peace  with  the  whole 
nation  of  the  Faliscans,  returned  home. 

But  the  soldiers,  who  had  expected  to  have  the  pillage 
of  the  city,  when  they  came  to  Eome  empty-handed, 
railed  against  Camillus  among  their  fellow-citizens,  as  a 
hater  of  the  people,  and  one  that  grudged  all  advantage 
to  the  poor.  Afterwards,  when  the  tribunes  of  the  peo- 
ple again  brought  their  motion  for  dividing  the  city  to 
the  vote,  Camillus  appeared  openly  against  it,  shrinking 
from  no  unpopularity,  and  inveighing  boldly  against  the 
promoters  of  it,  and  so  urging  and  constraining  the  mul- 
titude, that,  contrarj^  to  their  inclinations,  they  rejected 
the  proposal;  but  yet  hated  Camillus.  Insomuch  that, 
though  a  great  misfortune  befell  him  in  his  family  (one 
of  his  two  sons  dying  of  a  disease),  commiseration  for 
this  could  not  in  the  least  make  them  abate  of  their 
malice.  And,  indeed,  he  took  this  loss  with  immoderate 
sorrow,  being  a  man  naturally  of  a  mild  and  tender  dis- 
position, and,  when  the  accusation  was  preferred  against 
him,  kept  his  house,  and  mourned  amongst  the  women  of 
his  family. 

His  accuser  was  Lucius  Apuleius;  the  charge,  appro- 
priation of  the  Tuscan  spoils ;  certain  brass  gates,  part  of 
those  spoils,  were  said  to  be  in  his  possession.  The  peo- 
ple were  exasperated  against  him,  and  it  was  plain  they 
would  take  hold  of  any  occasion  to  condemn  him.  Gath- 
ering, therefore,  together  his  friends  and  fellow-soldiers, 
and  such  as  had  borne  command  with  him,  a  considerable 
number  in  all,  he  besought  them  that  they  would  not 
suffer  him  to  be  unjustly  overborne  by  shameful  accusa- 
tions, and  left  the  mock  and  scorn  of  his  enemies.  His 
friends,  having  advised  and  consulted  among  themselves, 
made  answer,  that,  as  to  the  sentence,  they  did  not  see 
how  they  could  help  him,  but  that  they  would  contribute 
to  whatsoever  fine  should  be  set  upon  him.     Not  able  to 


282  CAMILLUS. 

endure  so  great  an  indignity,  he  resolved  in  his  anger  to 
leave  the  city  and  go  into  exile ;  and  so,  having  taken 
leave  of  his  wife  and  his  son,  he  went  silently  to  the 
gate  of  the  city,  and,  there  stopping  and  turning  round, 
stretched  out  his  hands  to  the  Capitol,  and  prayed  to  the 
gods,  that  if,  without  any  fault  of  his  own,  but  merely 
through  the  malice  and  violence  of  the  people,  he  was 
driven  out  into  banishment,  the  Romans  might  quickly 
repent  of  it ;  and  that  all  mankind  might  witness  their 
need  for  the  assistance,  and  desire  for  the  return  of  Ca- 
millus. 

Thus,  like  Achilles,  having  left  his  imprecations  on  the 
citizens,  he  went  into  banishment ;  so  that,  neither  ap- 
pearing nor  making  defence,  he  was  condemned  in  the 
sum  of  fifteen  thousand  asses,  which,  reduced  to  silver, 
makes  one  thousand  five  hundred  drachmas;  for  the 
as  was  the  money  of  the  time,  ten  of  such  copper 
pieces  making  the  denarius,  or  piece  of  ten.  And  there 
is  not  a  Roman  but  believes  that  immediately  upon  the 
prayers  of  Camillus  a  sudden  judgment  followed,  and 
that  he  received  a  revenge  for  the  injustice  done  unto 
him;  which  though  we  cannot  think  was  pleasant,  but 
rather  grievous  and  bitter  to  him,  yet  was  very  remark- 
able, and  noised  over  the  whole  world;  such  a  punish- 
ment visited  the  city  of  Rome,  an  era  of  such  loss  and 
danger  and  disgrace  so  quickly  succeeded ;  whether  it 
thus  fell  out  by  fortune,  or  it  be  the  oflSce  of  some  god 
not  to  see  injured  virtue  go  unavenged. 

The  first  token  that  seemed  to  threaten  some  mischief 
to  ensue  was  the  death  of  the  censor  Julius;  for  the 
Romans  have  a  religious  reverence  for  the  office  of  a 
censor,  and  esteem  it  sacred.  The  second  was,  that,  just 
before  Camillus  went  into  exile,  Marcus  Caedicius,  a  person 
of  no  great  distinction,  nor  of  the  rank  of  senator,  but 
esteemed  a  good  and  respectable  man,  reported  to  the 


CAMILLUS.  283 

military  tribunes  a  thing  worthy  their  consideration: 
that,  going  along  the  night  before  in  the  street  called 
the  New  Way,  and  being  called  by  somebody  in  a  loud 
voice,  he  turned  about,  but  could  see  no  one,  but  heard  a 
voice  greater  than  human,  which  said  these  words,  "  Go, 
Marcus  Casdicius,  and  early  in  the  morning  tell  the  mili- 
tary tribunes  that  they  are  shortly  to  expect  the  Gauls." 
But  the  tribunes  made  a  mock  and  sport  with  the  story, 
and  a  little  after  came  Camillus's  banishment. 

The  Gauls  are  of  the  Celtic  race,  and  are  reported 
to  have  been  compelled  by  their  numbers  to  leave  their 
country,  which  was  insufficient  to  sustain  them  all,  and 
to  have  gone  in  search  of  other  homes.  And  being, 
many  thousands  of  them,  young  men  and  able  to  bear 
arms,  and  carrying  with  them  a  still  greater  number  of 
women  and  young  children,  some  of  them,  passing  the 
Riphaean  mountains,  fell  upon  the  Northern  Ocean,  and 
possessed  themselves  of  the  farthest  parts  of  Europe; 
others,  seating  themselves  between  the  Pyrenean  moun- 
tains and  the  Alps,  lived  there  a  considerable  time,  near 
to  the  Senones  and  Celtorii ;  but,  afterwards  tasting  wine 
which  was  then  first  brought  them  out  of  Italy,  they 
were  all  so  much  taken  with  the  liquor,  and  transported 
with  the  hitherto  unknown  delight,  that,  snatching  up 
their  arms  and  taking  their  families  along  with  them,  they 
marched  directly  to  the  Alps,  to  find  out  the  country 
which  yielded  such  fruit,  pronouncing  all  others  barren 
and  useless.  He  that  first  brought  wine  among  them 
and  was  the  chief  instigator  of  their  coming  into  Italy 
is  said  to  have  been  one  Aruns,  a  Tuscan,  a  man  of  noble 
extraction,  and  not  of  bad  natural  character,  but  involved 
in  the  following  misfortune.  He  was  guardian  to  an 
orphan,  one  of  the  richest  of  the  country,  and  much 
admired  for  his  beauty,  whose  name  was  Lucumo.  From 
his  childhood  he  had  been  bred  up  with  Aruns  in  his  fam> 


284  CAMILLUS. 

ily,  and  when  now  grown  up  did  not  leave  his  house,  pro- 
fessing to  wish  for  the  enjoyment  of  his  society.  And  thus 
for  a  great  while  he  secretly  enjoyed  Aruns's  wife,  corrupt- 
ing her,  and  himself  corrupted  by  her.  But  when  they  were 
both  so  far  gone  in  their  passion  that  they  could  neither 
refrain  their  lust  nor  conceal  it,  the  young  man  seized 
the  woman  and  openly  sought  to  carry  her  away.  The 
husband,  going  to  law,  and  finding  himself  overpowered 
by  the  interest  and  money  of  his  opponent,  left  his  coun- 
try, and,  hearing  of  the  state  of  the  Gauls,  went  to  them, 
and  was  the  conductor  of  their  expedition  into  Italy. 

At  their  first  coming  they  at  once  possessed  themselves 
of  all  that  country  which  anciently  the  Tuscans  inhabited, 
reaching  from  the  Alps  to  both  the  seas,  as  the  names 
themselves  testify;  for  the  North  or  Adriatic  Sea  is 
named  from  the  Tuscan  city  Adria,  and  that  to  the  south 
the  Tuscan  Sea  simply.  The  whole  country  is  rich  in 
fruit  trees,  has  excellent  pasture,  and  is  well  watered  with 
rivers.  It  had  eighteen  large  and  beautiful  cities,  well 
provided  with  all  the  means  for  industry  and  wealth,  and 
all  the  enjoyments  and  pleasures  of  life.  The  Gauls  cast 
out  the  Tuscans,  and  seated  themselves  in  them.  But 
this  was  long  before. 

The  Gauls  at  this  time  were  besieging  Clusium,  a  Tus- 
can city.  The  Clusinians  sent  to  the  Romans  for  succor, 
desiring  them  to  interpose  with  the  barbarians  by  letters 
and  ambassadors.  There  were  sent  three  of  the  family 
of  the  Fabii,  persons  of  high  rank  and  distinction  in  the 
city.  The  Gauls  received  them  courteously,  from  respect 
to  the  name  of  Rome,  and,  giving  over  the  assault  which 
was  then  making  upon  the  walls,  came  to  conference  with 
them;  when  the  ambassadors  asking  what  injury  they 
had  received  of  the  Clusinians  that  they  thus  invaded 
their  city,  Brennus,  king  of  the  Gauls,  laughed  and  made 
answer,  "  The  Clusinians  do  us  injury,  in  that,  being  able 


CAMILLUS.  285 

only  to  till  a  small  parcel  of  ground,  they  must  needs 
possess  a  great  territory,  and  will  not  yield  any  part  to 
us  who  are  strangers,  many  in  number,  and  poor.  In  the 
same  nature,  0  Romans,  formerly  the  Albans,  Fidenatcs, 
and  Ardeates,  and  now  lately  the  Veientines  and  Ca- 
penates,  and  many  of  the  Faliscans  and  Volscians,  did  you 
injury ;  upon  whom  ye  make  war  if  they  do  not  yield 
you  part  of  what  they  possess,  make  slaves  of  them, 
waste  and  spoil  their  country,  and  ruin  their  cities ;  neither 
in  so  doing  are  cruel  or  unjust,  but  follow  that  most 
ancient  of  all  laws,  which  gives  the  possessions  of  the  fee- 
ble to  the  strong;  which  begins  with  God  and  ends  in  the 
beasts ;  since  all  these,  hy  nature,  seek,  the  stronger  to 
have  advantage  over  the  weaker.  Cease,  therefore,  to 
pity  the  Clusinians  whom  we  besiege,  lest  ye  teach  the 
Gauls  to  be  kind  and  compassionate  to  those  that  are  op- 
pressed by  you."  By  this  answer  the  Romans,  perceiving 
that  Brennus  was  not  to  be  treated  with,  went  into  Clu- 
sium,  and  encouraged  and  stirred  up  the  inhabitants  to 
make  a  sally  with  them  upon  the  barbarians,  which  they 
did  either  to  try  their  strength  or  to  show  their  own. 
The  sally  being  made,  and  the  fight  growing  hot  about 
the  walls,  one  of  the  Fabii,  Quintus  Ambustus,  being  well 
mounted,  and  setting  spurs  to  his  horse,  made  full  against 
a  Gaul,  a  man  of  huge  bulk  and  stature,  whom  he  saw 
riding  out  at  a  distance  from  the  rest.  At  the  first  he 
was  not  recognized,  through  the  quickness  of  the  conflict 
and  the  glittering  of  his  armor,  that  precluded  any  view 
of  him ;  but  when  he  had  overthrown  the  Gaul,  and  was 
going  to  gather  the  spoils,  Brennus  knew  him ;  and,  in- 
voking the  gods  to  be  witnesses,  that,  contrary  to  the 
known  and  common  law  of  nations,  which  is  holily  ob- 
served by  all  mankind,  he  who  had  come  as  an  ambassador 
had  now  engaged  in  hostility  against  him,  he  drew  off 
his  men,  and,  bidding  Clusium  farewell,  led    his    army 


286  CAMILLUS. 

directly  to  Rome.  But  not  wishing  that  it  should  look  as 
if  they  took  advantage  of  that  injury,  and  were  ready  to 
embrace  any  occasion  of  quarrel,  he  sent  a  herald  to 
demand  the  man  in  punishment,  and  in  the  mean  time 
marched  leisurely  on. 

The  senate  being  met  at  Rome,  among  many  others 
that  spoke  against  the  Fabii,  the  priests  called  fecials 
were  the  most  decided,  who,  on  the  religious  ground, 
urged  the  senate  that  they  should  lay  the  whole  guilt 
and  penalty  of  the  fact  upon  him  that  committed  it,  and 
so  exonerate  the  rest.  These  fecials  Numa  Pompilius, 
the  mildest  and  justest  of  kings,  constituted  guardians  of 
peace,  and  the  judges  and  determiners  of  all  causes  by 
which  war  may  justifiably  be  made.  The  senate  referring 
the  whole  matter  to  the  people,  and  the  priests  there,  as 
well  as  in  the  senate,  pleading  against  Fabius,  the  multi- 
tude, however,  so  little  regarded  their  authority,  that  in 
scorn  and  contempt  of  it  they  chose  Fabius  and  the  rest 
of  his  brothers  military  tribunes.  The  Gauls,  on  hearing 
this,  in  great  rage  threw  aside  ever}^  delay,  and  hastened 
on  with  all  the  speed  they  could  make.  The  places 
through  which  they  marched,  terrified  with  their  numbers 
and  the  splendor  of  their  preparations  for  war,  and  in 
alarm  at  their  violence  and  fierceness,  began  to  give  up 
their  territories  as  already  lost,  with  little  doubt  but  their 
cities  would  quickly  follow ;  contrary,  however,  to  expec- 
tation, they  did  no  injury  as  they  passed,  nor  took  any 
thing  from  the  fields ;  and,  as  they  went  by  any  city,  cried 
out  that  they  were  going  to  Rome ;  that  the  Romans 
only  were  their  enemies,  and  that  they  took  all  others  for 
their  friends. 

Whilst  the  barbarians  were  thus  hastening  with  all 
speed,  the  military  tribunes  brought  the  Romans  into  the 
field  to  be  ready  to  engage  them,  being  not  inferior  to 
the  Gauls  in  number  (for  they  were  no  less  than  forty 


CAMILLUS.  287 

thousand  foot),  but  most  of  them  raw  soldiers,  and  such 
as  had  never  handled  a  weapon  before.  Besides,  they 
had  wholly  neglected  all  religious  usages,  had  not  ob- 
tained favorable  sacrifices,  nor  made  inquiries  of  the 
prophets,  natural  in  danger  and  before  battle.  No  less 
did  the  multitude  of  commanders  distract  and  confound 
their  proceedings ;  frequently  before,  upon  less  occasions, 
the}''  had  chosen  a  single  leader,  with  the  title  of  dictator, 
being  sensible  of  what  great  importance  it  is  in  critical 
times  to  have  the  soldiers  united  under  one  general  with 
the  entire  and  absolute  control  placed  in  his  hands.  Add 
to  all,  the  remembrance  of  Camillus's  treatment,  which 
made  it  now  seem  a  dangerous  thing  for  officers  to  com- 
mand without  humoring  their  soldiers.  In  this  condition 
they  left  the  city,  and  encamped  by  the  river  Allia,  about 
ten  miles  from  Rome,  and  not  far  from  the  place  where 
it  falls  into  the  Tiber;  and  here  the  Gauls  came  upon 
them,  and,  after  a  disgraceful  resistance,  devoid  of  order 
and  discipline,  they  were  miserably  defeated.  The  left 
wing  was  immediately  driven  into  the  river,  and  there 
destroyed ;  the  right  had  less  damage  by  declining  the 
shock,  and  from  the  low  grounds  getting  to  the  tops  of 
the  hills,  from  whence  most  of  them  afterwards  dropped 
into  the  city ;  the  rest,  as  many  as  escaped,  the  enemy 
being  weary  of  the  slaughter,  stole  by  night  to  Veii,  giv- 
ing up  Rome  and  all  that  was  in  it  for  lost. 

This  battle  was  fought  about  the  summer  solstice,  the 
moon  being  at  full,  the  very  same  day  in  which  the  sad 
disaster  of  the  Fabii  had  happened,  when  three  hundred 
of  that  name  were  at  one  time  cut  off  by  the  Tuscans. 
But  from  this  second  loss  and  defeat  the  day  got  the 
name  of  Alliensis,  from  the  river  Allia,  and  still  retains  it. 
The  question  of  unlucky  days,  whether  we  should  con- 
sider any  to  be  so,  and  whether  Heraclitus  did  well  in 
upbraiding  Hesiod  for  distinguishing  them  into  fortunate 


288  CAMILLUS. 

and  unfortunate,  as  ignorant  that  the  nature  of  every 
day  is  the  same,  I  have  examined  in  another  place ;  but 
upon  occasion  of  the  present  subject,  I  think  it  will  not 
be  amiss  to  annex  a  few  examples  relating  to  this  matter. 
On  the  fifth  of  their  month  Hippodromius,  which  corre- 
sponds to  the  Athenian  Hecatombaeon,  the  Boeotians 
gained  two  signal  victories,  the  one  at  Leuctra,  the  other 
at  Ceressus,  about  three  hundred  years  before,  when  they 
overcame  Lattamyas  and  the  Thessalians,  both  which 
asserted  the  liberty  of  Greece.  Again,  on  the  sixth  of 
Boedromion.  the  Persians  were  worsted  by  the  Greeks  at 
Marathon ;  on  the  third,  at  Platsea,  as  also  at  Mycale ;  on 
the  twenty-fifth,  at  Arbela.  The  Athenians,  about  the 
full  moon  in  Boedromion,  gained  their  sea-victory  at 
Naxos  under  the  conduct  of  Chabrias ;  on  the  twentieth, 
at  Salamis,  as  we  have  shown  in  our  treatise  on  Days. 
Thargelion  was  a  very  unfortunate  month  to  the  barba- 
rians, for  in  it  Alexander  overcame  Darius's  generals  on 
the  Granicus;  and  the  Carthaginians,  on  the  twenty- 
fourth,  were  beaten  by  Timoleon  in  Sicily,  on  which 
same  day  and  month  Troy  seems  to  have  been  taken,  as 
Ephorus,  Callisthenes,  Damastes,  and  Phylarchus  state. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  month  Metagitnion,  which  in 
Bceotia  is  called  Panemus,  was  not  very  lucky  to  the 
Greeks;  for  on  its  seventh  day  they  were  defeated  by 
Antipater,  at  the  battle  in  Cranon,  and  utterly  ruined 
and  before,  at  Chseronea,  were  defeated  by  Philip ;  and 
on  the  very  same  day,  same  month,  and  same  year,  those 
that  went  with  Archidamus  into  Italy  were  there  cut  off  by 
the  barbarians.  The  Carthaginians  also  observe  the  twenty- 
first  of  the  same  month,  as  bringing  with  it  the  largest 
number  and  the  severest  of  their  losses.  I  am  not  igno- 
rant, that,  about  the  Feast  of  Mysteries,  Thebes  was  de- 
stroyed the  second  time  by  Alexander;  and  after  that, 
upon  the  very  twentieth  of  Boedromion,  on  which  day 


CAMILLUS.  289 

they  lead  forth  the  mystic  lacchus,  the  Athenians  received 
a  garrison  of  the  Macedonians.  On  the  selfsame  day  the 
Romans  lost  their  army  under  CoBpio  by  the  Cimbrians, 
and  in  a  subsequent  year,  under  the  conduct  of  LucuUus, 
overcame  the  Armenians  and  Tigranes.  King  Attalus 
and  Pompey  died  both  on  their  birthdays.  One  could 
reckon  up  several  that  have  had  variety  of  fortune  on  the 
same  day.  This  day,  meantime,  is  one  of  the  unfortu- 
nate ones  to  the  Romans,  and  for  its  sake  two  others  *  in 
every  month ;  fear  and  superstition,  as  the  custom  of  it  is, 
more  and  more  prevailing.  But  I  have  discussed  this 
more  accurately  in  my  Roman  Questions. 

And  now,  after  the  battle,  had  the  Gauls  immediately 
pursued  those  that  fled,  there  had  been  no  remedy  but 
Rome  must  have  wholly  been  ruined,  and  all  those  who 
remained  in  it  utterly  destroyed ;  such  was  the  terror 
that  those  who  escaped  the  battle  brought  with  them  into 
the  city,  and  with  such  distraction  and  confusion  were 
themselves  in  turn  infected.  But  the  Gauls,  not  im- 
agining their  victory  to  be  so  considerable,  and  overtaken 
with  the  present  joy,  fell  to  feasting  and  dividing  the 
spoil,  by  which  means  they  gave  leisure  to  those  who 
were  for  leaving  the  city  to  make  their  escape,  and  to 
those  that  remained,  to  anticipate  and  prepare  for  their 
coming.  For  they  who  resolved  to  stay  at  Rome,  aban- 
doning the  rest  of  the  city,  betook  themselves  to  the 
Capitol,  which  they  fortified  with  the  help  of  missiles  and 
new  works.  One  of  their  principal  cares  was  of  their 
holy  things,  most  of  which  they  conveyed  into  the  Capi- 
tol.    But  the  consecrated  fire  the  vestal  virs-ins  took,  and 

*  The   day   after   the    Ides,   on  after   the    Nones,   were    in   every 

which,  in  the  month  of  July,  the  month    accounted    unlucky.      The 

army  marched  out,   and   also    the  AUian  day  itself  was  the  third  after 

day  after  the  Calends,  and  the  day  the  Ides,  July  18. 

VOL.  I.  19 


290  CAMILLUS. 

fled  with  it,  as  likewise  their  other  sacred  things.  Some 
write  that  the}''  have  nothing  in  their  charge  but  the 
ever-living  fire  which  Numa  had  ordained  to  be  wor- 
shipped as  the  principle  of  all  things ;  for  fire  is  the  most 
active  thing  in  nature,  and  all  production  is  either  motion, 
or  attended  with  motion ;  all  the  other  parts  of  matter, 
so  long  as  they  are  without  warmth,  lie  sluggish  and 
dead,  and  require  the  accession  of  a  sort  of  soul  or  vital- 
ity in  the  principle  of  heat ;  and  upon  that  accession,  in 
whatever  way,  immediately  receive  a  capacity  either  of 
acting  or  being  acted  upon.  And  thus  Numa,  a  man 
curious  in  such  things,  and  whose  wisdom  made  it  thought 
that  he  conversed  with  the  Muses,  consecrated  fire,  and 
ordained  it  to  be  kept  ever  burning,  as  an  image  of 
that  eternal  power  which  orders  and  actuates  all  things. 
Others  say  that  this  fire  was  kept  burning  in  front  of  the 
holy  things,  as  in  Greece,  for  purification,  and  that  there 
were  other  things  hid  in  the  most  secret  part  of  the  tem- 
ple, which  were  kept  from  the  view  of  all,  except  those 
virgins  whom  they  call  vestals.  The  most  common 
opinion  was,  that  the  image  of  Pallas,  brought  into  Italy 
by  JEne'ds,  was  laid  up  there ;  others  say  that  the  Samo- 
thracian  images  lay  there,  telling  a  story  how  that  Dar- 
danus  carried  them  to  Troy,  and,  when  he  had  built  the 
city,  celebrated  those  rites,  and  dedicated  those  images 
there;  that  after  Troy  was  taken,  ^Eneas  stole  them 
away,  and  kept  them  tiU  his  coming  into  Italy.  But  they 
who  profess  to  know  more  of  the  matter  affirm  that  there 
are  two  barrels,  not  of  any  great  size,  one  of  which  stands 
open  and  has  nothing  in  it,  the  other  full  and  sealed  up ; 
but  that  neither  of  them  may  be  seen  but  by  the  most 
holy  virgins.  Others  think  that  they  who  say  this  are 
misled  by  the  fact  that  the  virgins  put  most  of  their  holy 
thing's  into  two  barrels  at  this  time  of  the  Gaulish  invar 
sion.  and  hid  them  underground  in  the  temple  of  Quiri- 


CAMILLUS.  291 

nus ;  and  that  from  hence  that  place  to  this  day  bears  the 
name  of  Barrels. 

However  it  be,  taking  the  most  precious  and  important 
things  they  had,  they  fled  away  with  them,  shaping  their 
course  along  the  river  side,  where  Lucius  Albinius,  a  sim- 
ple citizen  of  Rome,  who  among  others  was  making  his 
escape,  overtook  them,  having  his  wife,  children,  and 
goods  in  a  cart ;  and,  seeing  the  virgins  dragging  along 
in  their  arms  the  holy  things  of  the  gods,  in  a.  helpless 
and  weary  condition,  he  caused  his  wife  and  children  to  get 
down,  and,  taking  out  his  goods,  put  the  virgins  in  the 
cart,  that  they  might  make  their  escape  to  some  of  the 
Greek  cities.  This  devout  act  of  Albinius,  and  the  respect 
he  showed  thus  signallj^  to  the  gods  at  a  time  of  such  ex- 
tremity, deserved  not  to  be  passed  over  in  silence.  But 
the  priests  that  belonged  to  other  gods,  and  the  most 
elderly  of  the  senators,  men  who  had  been  consuls  and 
had  enjoyed  triumphs,  could  not  endure  to  leave  the 
city;  but,  putting  on  their  sacred  and  splendid  robes,  Fa- 
bius  the  high-priest  performing  the  office,  they  made 
their  prayers  to  the  gods,  and,  devoting  themselves,  as  it 
were,  for  their  country,  sate  themselves  down  in  their 
ivory  chairs  in  the  forum,  and  in  that  posture  expected 
the  event. 

On  the  third  day  after  the  battle,  Brennus  appeared 
with  his  army  at  the  city,  and,  finding  the  gates  wide 
open  and  no  guards  upon  the  walls,  first  began  to  suspect 
it  was  some  design  or  stratagem,  never  dreaming  that  the 
Romans  were  in  so  desperate  a  condition.  But  when  he 
found  it  to  be  so  indeed,  he  entered  at  the  Colline  gate, 
and  took  Rome,  in  the  three  hundred  and  sixtieth  3'ear. 
or  a  little  more,  after  it  was  built ;  if,  indeed,  it  can  be  sup- 
posed probable  that  an  exact  chronological  statement  has 
been  preserved  of  events  which  were  themselves  the 
cause  of  chronological  difficulties  about  things  of  later 


292  CAMILLUS. 

date ;  of  the  calamity  itself,  however,  and  of  the  fact  of 
the  capture,  some  faint  rumors  seem  to  have  passed  at 
the  time  into  Greece.  Heraclides  Ponticus,  who  lived 
not  long  after  these  times,  in  his  book  upon  the  Soul, 
relates  that  a  certain  report  came  from  the  west,  that  an 
army,  proceeding  from  the  Hyperboreans,  had  taken  a 
Greek  city  called  Rome,  seated  somewhere  upon  the  great 
sea.  But  I  do  not  wonder  that  so  fabulous  and  high- 
flown  an  author  as  Heraclides  should  embellish  the  truth 
of  the  story  with  expressions  about  Hyperboreans  and 
the  great  sea.  Aristotle  the  philosopher  appears  to  have 
heard  a  correct  statement  of  the  taking  of  the  city  by 
the  Gauls,  but  he  calls  its  deliverer  Lucius ;  whereas  Camil- 
lus*s  surname  was  not  Lucius,  but  Marcus.  But  this  is  a 
matter  of  conjecture. 

Brennus,  having  taken  possession  of  Rome,  set  a  strong 
guard  about  the  Capitol,  and,  going  himself  down  into  the 
forum,  was  there  struck  with  amazement  at  the  sight  of 
so  many  men  sitting  in  that  order  and  silence,  observing 
that  they  neither  rose  at  his  coming,  nor  so  much  as 
changed  color  or  countenance,  but  remained  without  fear 
or  concern,  leaning  upon  their  staves,  and  sitting  quietly, 
looking  at  each  other.  The  Gauls,  for  a  great  while,  stood 
wondering  at  the  strangeness  of  the  sight,  not  daring  to 
approach  or  touch  them,  taking  them  for  an  assembly  of 
superior  beings.  But  when  one,  bolder  than  the  rest,  drew 
near  to  Marcus  Papirius,  and,  putting  forth  his  hand, 
gently  touched  his  chin  and  stroked  his  long  beard,  Papi- 
rius with  his  staff  struck  him  a  severe  blow  on  the  head; 
upon  which  the  barbarian  drew  his  sword  and  slew  him. 
This  was  the  introduction  to  the  slaughter ;  for  the  rest, 
following  his  example,  set  upon  them  all  and  killed  them, 
and  despatched  all  others  that  came  in  their  way ;  and  so 
went  on  to  the  sacking  and  pillaging  the  houses,  which 
they  continued  for  many  days  ensuing.     Afterwards,  they 


CAJMILLUS.  293 

burnt  them  down  to  the  ground  and  deraohshed  them, 
being  incensed  at  those  who  kept  the  Capitol,  because 
they  would  not  yield  to  summons ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
when  assailed,  had  repelled  them,  with  some  loss,  from 
their  defences.  This  provoked  them  to  ruin  the  whole 
city,  and  to  put  to  the  sword  all  that  came  to  their  hands, 
young  and  old,  men,  women,  and  children. 

And  now,  the  siege  of  the  Capitol  having  lasted  a  good 
while,  the  Gauls  began  to  be  in  want  of  provision ;  and 
dividing  their  forces,  part  of  them  stayed  with  their  king 
at  the  siege,  the  rest  went  to  forage  the  country,  rava- 
ging the  towns  and  villages  where  they  came,  but  not  all 
together  in  a  body,  but  in  different  squadrons  and  parties  j 
and  to  such  a  confidence  had  success  raised  them,  that 
they  carelessly  rambled  about  without  the  least  fear  or 
apprehension  of  danger.  But  the  greatest  and  best 
ordered  body  of  their  forces  went  to  the  city  of  Ardea, 
where  Camillus  then  sojourned,  having,  ever  since  his  lea- 
ving Rome,  sequestered  himself  from  all  business,  and  taken 
to  a  private  life ;  but  now  he  began  to  rouse  up  himself, 
and  consider  not  how  to  avoid  or  escape  the  enemy,  but 
to  find  out  an  opportunity  to  be  revenged  upon  them. 
And  perceiving  that  the  Ardeatians  wanted  not  men,  but 
rather  enterprise,  through  the  inexperience  and  timidity 
of  their  officers,  he  began  to  speak  with  the  young 
men,  first,  to  the  effect  that  they  ought  not  to  ascribe 
the  misfortune  of  the  Romans  to  the  courage  of  their 
enemy,  nor  attribute  the  losses  they  sustained  by  rash 
counsel  to  the  conduct  of  men  who  had  no  title  to  vic- 
tory; the  event  had  been  only  an  evidence  of  the  power 
of  fortune ;  that  it  was  a  brave  thing  even  with  danger 
to  repel  a  foreign  and  barbarous  invader,  whose  end  in 
conquering  was,  like  fire,  to  lay  waste  and  destroy,  but 
if  they  would  be  courageous  and  resolute,  he  was  ready  to 
put  an  opportunity  into  their  hands  to  gain  a  victory, 


294  CAMILLUS. 

without  hazard  at  all.  When  he  found  the  young  men 
embraced  the  thing,  he  went  to  the  magistrates  and  coun- 
cil of  the  city,  and,  having  persuaded  them  also,  he  mus- 
tered all  that  could  bear  arms,  and  drew  them  up  within 
the  walls,  that  they  might  not  be  perceived  by  the  enemy, 
who  was  near ;  who,  having  scoured  the  country,  and  now 
returned  heavy-laden  with  booty,  lay  encamped  in  the 
plains  in  a  careless  and  negligent  posture,  so  that,  with 
the  night  ensuing  upon  debauch  and  drunkenness,  silence 
prevailed  through  all  the  camp.  When  Camillus  learned 
this  from  his  scouts,  he  drew  out  the  Ardeatians,  and  in 
the  dead  of  the  night,  passing  in  silence  over  the  ground 
that  lay  between,  came  up  to  their  works,  and,  command- 
ing his  trumpets  to  sound  and  his  men  to  shout  and  hal- 
loo, he  struck  terror  into  them  from  all  quarters ;  while 
drunkenness  impeded  and  sleep  retarded  their  movements. 
A  few,  whom  fear  had  sobered,  getting  into  some  order, 
for  awhile  resisted;  and  so  died  with  their  weapons  in 
their  hands.  But  the  greatest  part  of  them,  buried  in 
wine  and  sleep,  were  surprised  without  their  arms,  and 
despatched ;  and  as  many  of  them  as  by  the  advantage 
of  the  night  got  out  of  the  camp  were  the  next  day 
found  scattered  abroad  and  wandering  in  the  fields,  and 
were  picked  up  by  the  horse  that  pursued  them. 

The  fame  of  this  action  soon  flew  through  the  neigh- 
boring cities,  and  stirred  up  the  young  men  from  various 
quarters  to  come  and  join  themselves  with  him.  But 
none  were  so  much  concerned  as  those  Romans  who 
escaped  in  the  battle  of  Allia,  and  were  now  at  Veii,  thus 
lamenting  with  themselves,  "  0  heavens,  what  a  com- 
mander has  Providence  bereaved  Rome  of,  to  honor  Ardea 
with  his  actions!  And  that  city,  which  brought  forth 
and  nursed  so  great  a  man,  is  lost  and  gone,  and  we,  des- 
titute of  a  leader  and  shut  up  within  strange  walls,  sit 
idle,  and  see  Italy  ruined  before  our  eyes.     Come,  let  us 


CAMILLUS.  295 

send  to  the  Ardeatians  to  have  back  our  general,  or  else, 
with  weapons  m  our  hands,  let  us  go  thither  to  him ;  for 
he  is  no  longer  a  banished  man,  nor  we  citizens,  hav- 
ing no  country  but  what  is  in  the  possession  of  the 
enemy."  To  this  they  all  agreed,  and  sent  to  Camillus 
to  desire  him  to  take  the  command ;  but  he  answered, 
that  he  would  not,  until  they  that  were  in  the  Capitol 
should  legally  appoint  him;  for  he  esteemed  them,  as 
long  as  the}^  were  in  being,  to  be  his  country ;  that  if 
they  should  conamand  him,  he  would  readily  obey ;  but 
against  their  consent  he  would  intermeddle  with  nothing. 
When  this  answer  was  returned,  they  admired  the  mod- 
esty and  temper  of  Camillus ;  but  they  could  not  tell  how 
to  find  a  messenger  to  carry  the  intelligence  to  the  Capi- 
tol, or  rather,  indeed,  it  seemed  altogether  impossible  for 
any  one  to  get  to  the  citadel  whilst  the  enemy  was  in  full 
possession  of  the  city.  But  among  the  young  men  there 
was  one  Pontius  Cominius,  of  ordinary  birth,  but  ambi- 
tious of  honor,  who  proffered  himself  to  run  the  hazard, 
and  took  no  letters  with  him  to  those  in  the  Capitol,  lest, 
if  he  were  intercepted,  tbe  enemy  might  learn  the  inten- 
tions of  Camillus ;  but,  putting  on  a  poor  dress  and  carry- 
ing corks  under  it,  he  boldly  travelled  the  greatest  part  of 
the  way  by  day,  and  came  to  the  city  when  it  was  dark ; 
the  bridge  he  could  not  pass,  as  it  was  guarded  by  the 
barbarians ;  so  that  taking  his  clothes,  which  were  neither 
many  nor  heavy,  and  binding  them  about  his  head,  he 
laid  his  body  upon  the  corks,  and,  swimming  with  them, 
got  over  to  the  city.  And  avoiding  those  quarters  where 
he  perceived  the  enemy  was  awake,  which  he  guessed  at 
by  the  lights  and  noise,  he  went  to  the  Carmental  gate, 
where  there  was  greatest  silence,  and  where  the  hill  of 
the  Capitol  is  steepest,  and  rises  with  craggy  and  broken 
rock.  By  this  way  he  got  up,  though  with  much  difficulty, 
by  the  hollow  of  the  cliff,  and  presented  himself  to  the 


296  CAivnLLUS. 

guards,  saluting  them,  and  telling  them  his  name ;  he  was 
taken  in,  and  carried  to  the  commanders.  And  a  senate 
being  immediately  called,  he  related  to  them  in  order  the 
victory  of  Camillus,  which  they  had  not  heard  of  before, 
and  the  proceedings  of  the  soldiers,  urging  them  to 
confirm  Camillus  in  the  command,  as  on  him  alone  all 
their  fellow-countrymen  outside  the  city  would  rely. 
Having  heard  and  consulted  of  the  matter,  the  senate 
declared  Camillus  dictator,  and  sent  back  Pontius  the 
same  way  that  he  came,  who,  with  the  same  success  as 
before,  got  through  the  enemy  without  being  discovered, 
and  delivered  to  the  Romans  outside  the  decision  of  the 
senate,  who  joyfully  received  it.  Camillus,  on  his  arrival, 
found  twenty  thousand  of  them  ready  in  arms;  with 
which  forces,  and  those  confederates  he  brought  along 
with  him,  he  prepared  to  set  upon  the  enemy. 

But  at  Rome  some  of  the  barbarians,  passing  by  chance 
near  the  place  at  which  Pontius  by  night  had  got  into 
the  Capitol,  spied  in  several  places  marks  of  feet  and 
hands,  where  he  had  laid  hold  and  clambered,  and  places 
where  the  plants  that  grew  to  the  rock  had  been  rubbed 
off,  and  the  earth  had  slipped,  and  went  accordingly  and 
reported  it  to  the  king,  who,  coming  in  person,  and  view- 
ing it,  for  the  present  said  nothing,  but  in  the  evening, 
picking  out  such  of  the  Gauls  as  were  nimblest  of  body, 
and  by  living  in  the  mountains  were  accustomed  to  climb, 
he  said  to  them,  "  The  enemy  themselves  have  shown  us 
a  way  how  to  come  at  them,  which  we  knew  not  of 
before,  and  have  taught  us  that  it  is  not  so  difficult  and 
impossible  but  that  men  may  overcome  it.  It  would  be 
a  great  shame,  having  begun  well,  to  fail  in  the  end,  and 
to  give  up  a  place  as  impregnable,  when  the  enemy  him- 
self lets  us  see  the  way  by  which  it  may  be  taken ;  for 
where  it  was  easy  for  one  man  to  get  up,  it  will  not  be 
hard   for   many,  one   after   another;   nay,   when   many 


CAMILLUS.  297 

shall  undertake  it,  they  will  be  aid  and  strength  to  each 
other.  Rewards  and  honors  shall  be  bestowed  on  every 
man  as  he  shall  acquit  himself." 

When  the  king  had  thus  spoken,  the  Gauls  cheerfully 
undertook  to  perform  it,  and  in  the  dead  of  night  a  good 
party  of  them  together,  with  great  silence,  began  to  climb 
the  rock,  clinging  to  the  precipitous  and  difhcult  ascent, 
which  yet  upon  trial  offered  a  way  to  them,  and  proved 
less  difficult  than  they  had  expected.  So  that  the  fore- 
most of  them  having  gained  the  top  of  all,  and  put  them- 
selves into  order,  they  all  but  surprised  the  outworks, 
and  mastered  the  watch,  who  were  fiist  asleep  ;  for  neither 
man  nor  dog  perceived  their  coming.  But  there  were 
sacred  geese  kept  near  the  temple  of  Juno,  which  at 
other  times  were  plentifully  fed,  but  now,  by  reason  that 
corn  and  all  other  provisions  were  grown  scarce  for  all, 
were  but  in  a  poor  condition.  The  creature  is  by  nature 
of  quick  sense,  and  apprehensive  of  the  least  noise,  so 
that  these,  being  moreover  watchful  through  hunger,  and 
restless,  immediately  discovered  the  coming  of  the  Gauls, 
and,  running  up  and  down  with  their  noise  and  cackling, 
they  raised  the  whole  camp,  while  the  barbarians  on  the 
other  side,  perceiving  themselves  discovered,  no  longer 
endeavored  to  conceal  their  attempt,  but  with  shouting 
and  violence  advanced  to  the  assault.  The  Romans, 
every  one  in  haste  snatching  up  the  next  weapon  that 
came  to  hand,  did  what  they  could  on  the  sudden  occa- 
sion. Manlius,  a  man  of  consular  dignity,  of  strong  body 
and  great  spirit,  was  the  first  that  made  head  against 
them,  and,  engaging  with  two  of  the  enemy  at  once, 
with  his  sword  cut  off  the  right  arm  of  one  just  as  he 
was  lifting  up  his  blade  to  strike,  and,  running  his  target 
full  in  the  face  of  the  other,  tumbled  him  headlong 
down  the  steep  rock;  then  mounting  the  rampart,  and 
there  standing  with   others    that   came    running   to  liis 


298  CAMILLUS. 

assistance,  drove  down  the  rest  of  them,  who,  indeed,  to 
begin,  had  not  been  many,  and  did  nothing  worthy  of  so 
bold  an  attempt.  The  Romans,  having  thus  escaped  this 
danger,  early  in  the  morning  took  the  captain  of  the  watch 
and  flung  him  down  the  rock  upon  the  heads  of  their  ene- 
mies, and  to  Manlius  for  his  victory  voted  a  reward, 
intended  more  for  honor  than  advantage,  bringing  him, 
each  man  of  them,  as  much  as  he  received  for  his  daily 
allowance,  which  was  half  a  pound  of  bread,  and  one 
eighth  of  a  pint  of  wine. 

Henceforward,  the  affairs  of  the  Gauls  were  daily  in 
a  worse  and  worse  condition ;  they  wanted  provisions, 
being  withheld  from  foraging  through  fear  of  Camillus, 
and  sickness  also  was  amongst  them,  occasioned  by  the 
number  of  carcasses  that  lay  in  heaps  unburied.  Being 
lodged  among  the  ruins,  the  ashes,  which  were  very  deep, 
blown  about  with  the  winds  and  combining  with  the 
sultry  heats,  breathed  up,  so  to  say,  a  dry  and  searching 
air,  the  inhalation  of  which  was  destructive  to  their 
health.  But  the  chief  cause  was  the  change  from  their 
natural  climate,  coming  as  they  did  out  of  shady  and 
hilly  countries,  abounding  in  means  of  shelter  from  the 
heat,  to  lodge  in  low,  and,  in  the  autumn  season,  very  un- 
healthy ground ;  added  to  which  was  the  length  and 
tediousness  of  the  siege,  as  they  had  now  sate  seven 
months  before  the  Capitol.  There  was,  therefore,  a  great 
destruction  among  them,  and  the  number  of  the  dead 
grew  so  great,  that  the  living  gave  up  burying  them. 
Neither,  indeed,  were  things  on  that  account  any  better 
with  the  besieged,  for  famine  increased  upon  them,  and 
despondency  with  not  hearing  any  thing  of  Camillus,  it 
being  impossible  to  send  any  one  to  him,  the  city  was  so 
guarded  by  the  barbarians.  Things  being  in  this  sad 
condition  on  both  sides,  a  motion  of  treaty  was  made  at 
6rst  by  some  of  the  outposts,  as  they  happened  to  speaii 


CAMILLUS.  299 

with  one  another ;  which  being  embraced  by  the  leading 
men,  Sulpicius,  tribune  of  the  Romans,  came  to  a  parley 
with  Brennus,  in  which  it  was  agreed,  that  the  Romans 
laying  down  a  thousand  weight  of  gold,  the  Gauls  upon 
the  receipt  of  it  should  immediately  quit  the  city  and 
territories.  The  agreement  being  confirmed  by  oath  on 
both  sides,  and  the  gold  brought  forth,  the  Gauls  used 
false  dealing  in  the  weights,  secretly  at  first,  but  after- 
wards openly  pulled  back  and  disturbed  the  balance ;  at 
which  the  Romans  indignantly  complaining,  Brennus  in 
a  scoffing  and  insulting  manner  pulled  off  his  sword  and 
belt,  and  threw  them  both  into  the  scales;  and  when 
Sulpicius  asked  what  that  meant, "  What  should  it  mean," 
says  he,  "  but  woe  to  the  conquered  ?  "  which  afterwards 
became  a  proverbial  saying.  As  for  the  Romans,  some 
were  so  incensed  that  they  were  for  taking  their  gold 
back  again,  and  returning  to  endure  the  siege.  Others 
were  for  passing  by  and  dissembling  a  petty  injury,  and 
not  to  account  that  the  indignity  of  the  thing  lay  in  pay- 
ing more  than  was  due,  since  the  paying  any  thing  at  all 
was  itself  a  dishonor  only  submitted  to  as  a  necessity  of 
the  times. 

Whilst  this  difference  remained  still  unsettled,  botii 
amongst  themselves  and  with  the  Gauls,  Camillus  was  at 
the  gates  with  his  army ;  and,  having  learned  what  was 
going  on,  commanded  the  main  body  of  his  forces  to  follow 
slowly  after  him  in  good  order,  and  himself  T\dth  the 
choicest  of  his  men  hastening  on,  went  at  once  to  the 
Romans ;  where  all  giving  way  to  him,  and  receiving  him 
as  their  sole  magistrate,  with  profound  silence  and  order, 
he  took  the  gold  out  of  the  scales,  and  delivered  it  to  his 
officers,  and  commanded  the  Gauls  to  take  their  weights 
and  scales  and  depart;  saying  that  it  was  customary 
with  the  Romans  to  deliver  their  country  with  iron,  not 
with  gold     And  when  Brennus  began  to  rage,  and  say  that 


300  CAMILLUS. 

he  was  unjustly  dealt  with  in  such  a  breach  of  contract, 
Camillus  answered  that  it  was  never  legally  made,  and 
the  agreement  of  no  force  or  obligation ;  for  that  himself 
being  declared  dictator,  and  there  being  no  other  magi- 
strate by  law,  the  engagement  had  been  made  with  men 
who  had  no  power  to  enter  into  it ;  but  now  they  might 
say  any  thing  the}^  had  to  urge,  for  he  was  come  with 
full  power  by  law  to  grant  pardon  to  such  as  should  ask 
it,  or  inflict  punishment  on  the  guilty,  if  they  did  not 
repent.  At  this,  Brennus  broke  into  violent  anger,  and 
an  immediate  quarrel  ensued ;  both  sides  drew  their  swords 
and  attacked,  but  in  confusion,  as  could  not  otherwise 
be  amongst  houses,  and  in  narrow  lanes  and  places  where 
it  was  impossible  to  form  in  any  order.  But  Brennus, 
presently  recollecting  himself,  called  oif  his  men,  and,  with 
the  loss  of  a  few  only,  brought  them  to  their  camp ;  and, 
rising  in  the  night  with  all  his  forces,  left  the  city,  and, 
advancing  about  eight  miles,  encamped  upon  the  way  to 
Gabii.  As  soon  as  day  appeared,  Camillus  came  up  with 
him,  splendidly  armed  himself,  and  his  soldiers  full  of 
courage  and  confidence ;  and  there  engaging  with  him  in 
a  sharp  conflict,  which  lasted  a  long  while,  overthrew  his 
army  with  great  slaughter,  and  took  their  camp.  Of 
those  that  fled,  some  were  presently  cut  off  by  the  pur- 
suers ;  others,  and  these  were  the  greatest  number,  dis- 
persed hither  and  thither,  and  were  despatched  by  the 
people  that  came  sallying  out  from  the  neighboring  towns 
and  villages. 

Thus  Rome  was  strangely  taken,  and  more  strangely 
recovered,  having  been  seven  whole  months  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  barbarians,  who  entered  her  a  little  after  the 
Ides  of  July,  and  were  driven  out  about  the  Ides  of  Feb- 
ruary following.  Camillus  triumphed,  as  he  deserved, 
having  saved  his  country  that  was  lost,  and  brought  the 
city,  so  to  say,  back  again  to  itself     For  those  that  had 


CAMILLUS.  301 

fled  abroad,  together  with  their  wives  and  children,  ac- 
companied him  as  he  rode  in ;  and  those  who  had  been 
shut  up  in  the  Capitol,  and  were  reduced  almost  to  the 
point  of  perishing  with  hunger,  went  out  to  meet  him, 
embracing  each  other  as  they  met,  and  weeping  for  joy, 
and,  through  the  excess  of  the  present  pleasure,  scarce 
believing  in  its  truth.  And  when  the  priests  and  min- 
isters of  the  gods  appeared,  bearing  the  sacred  things, 
which  in  their  flight  they  had  either  hid  on  the  spot, 
or  conveyed  away  with  them,  and  now  openly  showed 
in  safety,  the  citizens  who  saw  the  blessed  sight  felt 
as  if  with  these  the  gods  themselves  were  again  re- 
turned unto  Rome.  After  Camillus  had  sacrificed  to 
the  gods,  and  purified  the  city  according  to  the  direction 
of  those  properly  instructed,  he  restored  the  existing 
temples,  and  erected  a  new  one  to  Rumour,  or  Voice,* 
informing  himself  of  the  spot  in  which  that  voice  from 
heaven  came  by  night  to  Marcus  Csedicius,  foretelling  the 
coming  of  the  barbarian  army. 

It  was  a  matter  of  difficulty,  and  a  hard  task,  amidst  so 
much  rubbish,  to  discover  and  re-determine  the  conse- 
crated places ;  but  by  the  zeal  of  Camillus,  and  the  inces- 
sant labor  of  the  priests,  it  was  at  last  accomplished.  But 
when  it  came  also  to  rebuilding  the  city,  which  was 
wholly  demolished,  despondency  seized  the  multitude, 
and  a  backwardness  to  engage  in  a  work  for  which  they 
had  no  materials ;  at  a  time,  too,  when  they  rather  needed 
relief  and  repose  from  their  past  labors,  than  any  new 
demands  upon  their  exhausted  strength  and  impaired  for- 
tunes. Thus  insensibly  they  turned  their  thoughts  again 
towards  Veii,  a  city  ready-built  and  well-provided,  and 
gave  an  opening  to  the  arts  of  flatterers  eager  to  gratify 


*  Aius  Loquens,  in  Cicero,  Aius     cause  "  aiebat  et  loquebatur." 
Locutius,  in  Livy,   so  entitled  be- 


302  CAMILLUS. 

their  desires,  and  lent  their  ears  to  seditious  language 
flung  out  against  Camillus ;  as  that,  out  of  ambition  and 
self-glory,  he  withheld  them  from  a  city  fit  to  receive 
them,  forcing  them  to  live  in  the  midst  of  ruins,  and  to 
re-erect  a  pile  of  burnt  rubbish,  that  he  might  be  esteemed 
not  the  chief  magistrate  only  and  general  of  Rome,  but, 
to  the  exclusion  of  Romulus,  its  founder,  also.  The  sen- 
ate, therefore,  fearing  a  sedition,  would  not  suffer  Camil- 
lus, though  desirous,  to  lay  down  his  authority  within  the 
year,  though  no  other  dictator  had  ever  held  it  above  six 
months. 

They  themselves,  meantime,  used  their  best  endeavors, 
by  kind  persuasions  and  familiar  addresses,  to  encourage 
and  to  appease  the  people,  showing  them  the  shrines  and 
tombs  of  their  ancestors,  calling  to  their  remembrance  the 
sacred  spots  and  holy  places  which  Romulus  and  Numa 
or  any  other  of  their  kings  had  consecrated  and  left  to 
their  keeping ;  and  among  the  strongest  religious  argu- 
ments, urged  the  head,  newly  separated  from  the  body, 
which  was  found  in  laying  the  foundation  of  the  Capitol, 
marking  it  as  a  place  destined  by  fate  to  be  the  head  of  all 
Italy;  and  the  holy  fire  which  had  just  been  rekindled 
again,  since  the  end  of  the  war,  by  the  vestal  virgins; 
"  What  a  disgrace  would  it  be  to  them  to  lose  and  extin- 
guish this,  leaving  the  city  it  belonged  to,  to  be  either 
inhabited  by  strangers  and  new-comers,  or  left  a  wild  pas- 
ture for  cattle  to  graze  on  ?  "  Such  reasons  as  these,  urged 
with  complaint  and  expostulation,  sometimes  in  private 
upon  individuals,  and  sometimes  in  their  public  assemblies, 
were  met,  on  the  other  hand,  by  laments  and  protesta- 
tions of  distress  and  helplessness;  entreaties,  that,  re- 
united as  they  just  were,  after  a  sort  of  shipwreck,  naked 
and  destitute,  they  would  not  constrain  them  to  patch  up 
the  pieces  of  a  ruined  and  shattered  city,  when  they  had 
another  at  hand  ready-built  and  prepared. 


CAMILLUS.  303 

Camillus  thought  good  to  refer  it  to  general  deliberar 
tion,  and  himself  spoke  largely  and  earnestly  in  behalf  of 
his  country,  as  also  many  others.  At  last,  calling  to  Lu- 
cius Lucretius,  whose  place  it  was  to  speak  first,  he  com- 
manded him  to  give  his  sentence,  and  the  rest  as  they  fol- 
lowed, in  order.  Silence  being  made,  and  Lucretius  just 
about  to  begin,  by  chance  a  centurion,  passing  by  outside 
with  his  company  of  the  day-guard,  called  out  with  a  loud 
voice  to  the  ensign-bearer  to  halt  and  fix  his  standard,  for 
this  was  the  best  place  to  stay  in.  This  voice,  coming  in  that 
moment  of  time,  and  at  that  crisis  of  uncertainty  and  anxi- 
ety for  the  future,  was  taken  as  a  direction  what  was  to  be 
done ;  so  that  Lucretius,  assuming  an  attitude  of  devo- 
tion, gave  sentence  in  concurrence  with  the  gods,  as  he 
said,  as  likewise  did  all  that  followed.  Even  among  the 
common  people  it  created  a  wonderful  change  of  feeling ; 
every  one  now  cheered  and  encouraged  his  neighbor,  and 
set  himself  to  the  work,  proceeding  in  it,  however,  not  by 
any  regular  lines  or  divisions,  but  every  one  pitching  upon 
that  plot  of  ground  which  came  next  to  hand,  or  best 
pleased  his  fancy ;  by  which  haste  and  hurry  in  building, 
they  constructed  their  city  in  narrow  and  ill-designed 
lanes,  and  with  houses  huddled  together  one  upon  an- 
other J  for  it  is  said  that  within  the  compass  of  the  year 
the  whole  city  was  raised  up  anew,  both  in  its  public 
walls  and  private  buildings.  The  persons,  however,  ap- 
pointed by  Camillus  to  resume  and  mark  out,  in  this 
general  confusion,  all  consecrated  places,  coming,  in  their 
way  round  the  Palatium,  to  the  chapel  of  Mars,  found  the 
chapel  itself  indeed  destroyed  and  burnt  to  the  ground, 
like  every  thing  else,  by  the  barbarians ;  but  whilst  they 
were  clearing  the  place,  and  carrying  away  the  rubbish, 
lit  upon  Romulus's  augural  staff,  buried  under  a  great 
heap  of  ashes.  This  sort  of  staff  is  crocked  at  one  end, 
and  is  called  lUiius ;  they  make  use  of  it  in  quartering 


304  CAMILLUS. 

out  the  regions  of  the  heavens  when  engaged  in  divina- 
tion from  the  flight  of  birds ;  Romulus,  who  was  himself 
a  great  diviner,  made  use  of  it.  But  when  he  disappeared 
from  the  earth,  the  priests  took  his  staff  and  kept  it,  as 
other  holy  things,  from  the  touch  of  man;  and  when 
they  now  found  that,  whereas  all  other  things  were  con- 
sumed, this  staff  had  altogether  escaped  the  flames,  they 
began  to  conceive  happier  hopes  of  Rome,  and  to  augur 
from  this  token  its  future  everlasting  safety. 

And  now  they  had  scarcely  got  a  breathing  time  from 
their  trouble,  when  a  new  war  came  upon  them;  and  the 
^quians,  Volscians,  and  Latins  all  at  once  invaded  their 
territories,  and  the  Tuscans  besieged  Sutrium,  their  con- 
federate city.  The  military  tribunes  who  commanded  the 
army,  and  were  encamped  about  the  hill  Maecius,  being 
closely  besieged  by  the  Latins,  and  the  camp  in  danger  to  be 
lost,  sent  to  Rome,  where  Camillus  was  a  third  time  chosen 
dictator.  Of  this  war  two  different  accounts  are  given  ;  I 
shall  begin  with  the  more  fabulous.  They  say  that  the 
Latins  (whether  out  of  pretence,  or  a  real  design  to  revive 
the  ancient  relationship  of  the  two  nations)  sent  to  de- 
sire of  the  Romans  some  free-born  maidens  in  marriage ; 
that  when  the  Romans  were  at  a  loss  how  to  determine 
(for  on  one  hand  they  dreaded  a  war,  having  scarcely  yet 
settled  and  recovered  themselves,  and  on  the  other  side 
suspected  that  this  asking  of  wives  was,  in  plain  terms, 
nothing  else  but  a  demand  for  hostages,  though  covered 
over  with  the  specious  name  of  intermarriage  and  alli- 
ance), a  certain  handmaid,  by  name  Tutula,  or,  as  some 
call  her,  Philotis,  persuaded  the  magistrates  to  send  with 
her  some  of  the  most  youthful  and  best-looking  maid-ser- 
vants, in  the  bridal  dress  of  noble  virgins,  and  leave  the 
rest  to  her  care  and  management ;  that  the  magistrates 
consenting,  chose  out  as  many  as  she  thought  necessary 
for  her  purpose,  and,  adorning  them  with  gold  and  rich 


CAMILLUS.  305 

clothes,  delivered  them  to  the  Latins,  who  were  en- 
camped not  far  from  the  city ;  that  at  niglit  the  rest  stole 
away  the  enemy's  swords,  but  Tutula  or  Philotis,  getting 
to  the  top  of  a  wild  fig-tree,  and  spreading  out  a  thick 
woollen  cloth  behind  her,  held  out  a  torch  towards  Rome, 
which  was  the  signal  concerted  between  her  and  the 
commanders,  without  the  knowledge,  however,  of  any 
other  of  the  citizens,  which  was  the  reason  that  their 
issuing  out  from  the  city  was  tumultuous,  the  officers 
pushing  their  men  on,  and  they  calling  upon  one  an- 
other's names,  and  scarce  able  to  bring  themselves  into 
order ;  that  setting  upon  the  enemy's  works,  who  either 
were  asleep  or  expected  no  such  matter,  they  took  the 
camp,  and  destroyed  most  of  them ;  and  that  this  was  done 
on  the  nones  of  July,  which  was  then  called  Quintilis,  and 
that  the  feast  that  is  observed  on  that  day  is  a  commem- 
oration of  what  was  then  done.  For  in  it,  first,  they  run 
out  of  the  city  in  great  crowds,  and  call  out  aloud  several 
familiar  and  common  names,  Caius,  Marcus,  Lucius,  and 
the  like,  in  representation  of  the  way  in  which  they 
called  to  one  another  when  they  went  out  in  such  haste. 
In  the  next  place,  the  maid-servants,  gaily  dressed,  run 
about,  playing  and  jesting  upon  all  they  meet,  and 
amongst  themselves,  also,  use  a  kind  of  skirmishing,  to 
show  they  helped  in  the  conflict  against  the  Latins ;  and 
while  eating  and  drinking,  they  sit  shaded  over  with 
boughs  of  wild  fig-tree,  and  the  day  they  call  Nono3 
Caprotinae,  as  some  think  from  that  wild  fig-tree  on  which 
the  maid-servant  held  up  her  torch,  the  Roman  name  for 
a  wild  fig-tree  being  caprificus.  Others  refer  most  of 
what  is  said  or  done  at  this  feast  to  the  fate  of  Romulus, 
for,  on  this  day,  he  vanished  outside  the  gates  in  a  sud- 
den darkness  and  storm  (some  think  it  an  eclipse  of  the 
sun),  and  from  this,  the  day  was  called  NonaB  Caprotinae, 
VOL.  I.  20 


306  CAMILLUS. 

the  Latiu  for  a  goat  being  capra,  and  the  place  where  he 
disappeared  having  the  name  of  Goat's  Marsh,  as  is  stated 
in  his  life. 

But  the  general  stream  of  writers  prefer  the  other  ac- 
count of  this  war,  which  they  thus  relate.  Camillus,  being 
the  third  time  chosen  dictator,  and  learning  that  the  army 
under  the  tribunes  was  besieged  by  the  Latins  and  Vol- 
scians,  was  constrained  to  arm,  not  only  those  under,  but 
also  those  over,  the  age  of  service  ;  and  taking  a  large  cir- 
cuit round  the  mountain  Mascius,  undiscovered  by  the 
enemy,  lodged  his  army  on  their  rear,  and  then  by  many 
fires  gave  notice  of  his  arrival.  The  besieged,  encouraged 
by  this,  prepared  to  sally  forth  and  join  battle ;  but  the 
Latins  and  Volscians,  fearing  this  exposure  to  an  enemy 
on  both  sides,  drew  themselves  within  their  works,  and 
fortified  their  camp  with  a  strong  palisade  of  trees  on 
every  side,  resolving  to  wait  for  more  supplies  from  home, 
and  expecting,  also,  the  assistance  of  the  Tuscans,  their 
confederates.  Camillus,  detecting  their  object,  and  fear- 
ing to  be  reduced  to  the  same  position  to  which  he  had 
brought  them,  namely,  to  be  besieged  himself,  resolved  to 
lose  no  time  ;  and  finding  their  rampart  was  all  of  timber, 
and  observing  that  a  strong  wind  constantly  at  sun-rising 
blew  ofi'  from  the  mountains,  after  having  prepared  a 
quantity  of  combustibles,  about  break  of  day  he  drew 
forth  his  forces,  commanding  a  part  with  their  missiles  to 
assault  the  enemy  with  noise  and  shouting  on  the  other 
quarter,  whilst  he,  with  those  that  were  to  fling  in  the 
fire,  went  to  that  side  of  the  enemy's  camp  to  which  the 
wind  usually  blew,  and  there  waited  his  opportunity. 
When  the  skirmish  was  begun,  and  the  sun  risen,  and  a 
strong  wind  set  in  from  the  mountains,  he  gave  the  sig- 
nal of  onset ;  and,  heaping  in  an  infinite  quantity  of  fiery 
matter,  filled  all  their  rampart  with  it,  so  that  the  flame. 


CAMILLUS.  307 

being  fed  by  the  close  timber  and  wooden  palisades,  went 
on  and  spread  into  all  quarters.  The  Latins,  having  noth- 
ing ready  to  keep  it  off  or  extinguish  it,  when  the  camp 
was  now  almost  full  of  fire,  were  driven  back  within  a 
very  small  compass,  and  at  last  forced  by  necessity  to 
come  into  their  enemy's  hands,  who  stood  before  the 
works  ready  armed  and  prepared  to  receive  them;  of 
these  very  few  escaped,  while  those  that  stayed  in  the 
camp  were  all  a  prey  to  the  fire,  until  the  Romans,  to 
gain  the  pillage,  extinguished  it. 

These  things  performed,  Camillus,  leaving  his  son  Lu- 
cius in  the  camp  to  guard  the  prisoners  and  secure  the 
booty,  passed  into  the  enemy's  country,  where,  having 
taken  the  city  of  the  ^quians  and  reduced  the  Volscians 
to  obedience,  he  then  immediately  led  his  army  to  Sutri- 
um,  not  having  heard  what  had  befallen  the  Sutrians,  but 
making  haste  to  assist  them,  as  if  they  were  still  in  danger 
and  besieged  by  the  Tuscans.  They,  however,  had  already 
surrendered  their  city  to  their  enemies,  and  destitute  of 
all  things,  with  nothing  left  but  their  clothes,  met  Camil- 
lus on  the  way,  leading  their  wives  and  children,  and 
bewailing  their  misfortune.  Camillus  himself  was  struck 
with  compassion,  and  perceiving  the  soldiers  weeping,  and 
commiserating  their  case,  while  the  Sutrians  hung  about 
and  clung  to  them,  resolved  not  to  defer  revenge,  but 
that  very  day  to  lead  his  army  to  Sutrium ;  conjecturing 
that  the  enemy,  having  just  taken  a  rich  and  plentiful 
city,  without  an  enemy  left  within  it,  nor  any  from  with- 
out to  be  expected,  would  be  found  abandoned  to  enjoy- 
ment and  unguarded.  Neither  did  his  opinion  fail  him ; 
he  not  only  passed  through  their  country  without  dis- 
covery, but  came  up  to  their  very  gates  and  possessed 
himself  of  the  walls,  not  a  man  being  left  to  guard  them, 
but  their  whole  army  scattered  about  in  the  houses, 
drinking  and  making  merry.     Nay,  when  at  last  they  did 


308  CAMILLUS. 

perceive  that  the  enemy  had  seized  the  city,  they  were 
so  overloaded  with  meat  and  wine,  that  few  were  able  so 
much  as  to  endeavor  to  escape,  but  either  waited  shame- 
fully for  their  death  within  doors,  or  surrendered  them- 
selves to  the  conqueror.  Thus  the  city  of  the  Sutrians 
was  twice  taken  in  one  day ;  and  they  who  were  in  pos- 
session lost  it,  and  they  who  had  lost  regained  it,  alike  by 
the  means  of  Camillus.  For  all  which  actions  he  received 
a  triumph,  which  brought  him  no  less  honor  and  reputa- 
tion than  the  two  former  ones;  for  those  citizens  who 
before  most  regarded  him  with  an  evil  eye,  and  ascribed 
his  successes  to  a  certain  luck  rather  than  real  merit,  were 
compelled  by  these  last  acts  of  his  to  allow  the  whole 
honor  to  his  great  abilities  and  energy. 

Of  all  the  adversaries  and  enviers  of  his  glory,  Marcus 
Manlius  was  the  most  distinguished,  he  who  first  drove 
back  the  Gauls  when  they  made  their  night  attack  upon 
the  Capitol,  and  who  for  that  reason  had  been  named 
Capitolinus.  This  man,  affecting  the  first  place  in  the 
commonwealth,  and  not  able  by  noble  ways  to  outdo 
Camillus's  reputation,  took  that  ordinary  course  towards 
usurpation  of  absolute  power,  namely,  to  gain  the  multi- 
tude, those  of  them  especially  that  were  in  debt ;  defend- 
ing some  by  pleading  their  causes  against  their  creditors, 
rescuing  others  by  force,  and  not  suffering  the  law  to  pro- 
ceed against  them;  insomuch  that  in  a  short  time  he 
got  great  numbers  of  indigent  people  about  him,  whose 
tumults  and  uproars  in  the  forum  struck  terror  into  the 
principal  citizens.  After  that  Quintius  Capitolinus,  who 
was  made  dictator  to  suppress  these  disorders,  had  com- 
mitted Manlius  to  prison,  the  people  immediately  changed 
their  apparel,  a  thing  never  done  but  in  great  and  pubhc 
calamities,  and  the  senate,  fearing  some  tumult,  ordered 
him  to  be  released.  He,  however,  when  set  at  liberty, 
changed  not  his  course,  but  was  rather  the  more  insolent 


CA]\nLLUS.  309 

in  his  proceedings,  filling  the  whole  city  with  faction  and 
sedition.  They  chose,  therefore,  Camillus  again  mihtary 
tribune  ;  and  a  day  being  appointed  for  Manlius  to  answer 
to  his  charge,  the  prospect  from  the  place  where  his  trial 
was  held  proved  a  great  impediment  to  his  accusers ;  for 
the  very  spot  where  Manlius  by  night  fought  with  the 
Gauls  overlooked  the  forum  from  the  Capitol,  so  that, 
stretching  forth  his  hands  that  way,  and  weeping,  he 
called  to  their  remembrance  his  past  actions,  raising  com- 
passion in  all  that  beheld  him.  Insomuch  that  the  judges 
were  at  a  loss  what  to  do,  and  several  times  adjourned 
the  trial,  unwilling  to  acquit  him  of  the  crime,  which 
was  sufficiently  proved,  and  yet  unable  to  execute  the 
law  while  his  noble  action  remained,  as  it  were,  before 
their  eyes.  Camillus,  considering  this,  transferred  the 
court  outside  the  gates  to  the  Peteline  Grove,  from 
whence  there  is  no  prospect  of  the  Capitol.  Here  his 
accuser  went  on  with  his  charge,  and  his  judges  were 
capable  of  remembering  and  duly  resenting  his  guilty 
deeds.  He  was  convicted,  carried  to  the  Capitol,  and 
flung  headlong  from  the  rock ;  so  that  one  and  the  same 
spot  was  thus  the  witness  of  his  greatest  glory,  and  monu- 
ment of  his  most  unfortunate  end.  The  Romans,  besides, 
razed  his  house,  and  built  there  a  temple  to  the  goddess 
they  call  Moneta,  ordaining  for  the  future  that  none  of 
the  patrician  order  should  ever  dwell  on  the  Capitoline. 

And  now  Camillus,  being  called  to  his  sixth  tribune- 
ship,  desired  to  be  excused,  as  being  aged,  and  perhaps 
not  unfearful  of  the  malice  of  fortune,  and  those  reverses 
which  seem  to  ensue  upon  great  prosperity.  But  the 
most  apparent  pretence  was  the  weakness  of  his  body, 
for  he  happened  at  that  time  to  be  sick;  the  people, 
however,  would  admit  of  no  excuses,  but,  crying  that 
they  wanted  not  his  strength  for  horse  or  for  foot  service, 
but   only  his  counsel  and  conduct,  constrained    him   to 


310  CAMILLUS. 

undertake  the  command,  and  with  one  of  his  fellow-tri- 
bunes to  lead  the  army  immediately  against  the  enemy. 
These  were  the  Prsenestines  and  Yolscians,  who,  with 
large  forces,  were  laying  waste  the  territory  of  the  Roman 
confederates.  Having  marched  out  with  his  army,  he 
sat  down  and  encamped  near  the  enemy,  meaning  him- 
self to  protract  the  war,  or  if  there  should  come  any 
necessity  or  occasion  of  fighting,  in  the  mean  time  to 
regain  his  strength.  But  Lucius  Furius,  his  colleague, 
carried  away  with  the  desire  of  glory,  was  not  to  be  held 
in,  but,  impatient  to  give  battle,  inflamed  the  inferior 
officers  of  the  army  with  the  same  eagerness;  so  that 
Camillus,  fearing  he  might  seem  out  of  envy  to  be  wish- 
ing to  rob  the  young  men  of  the  glory  of  a  noble  exploit, 
consented,  though  unwillingly,  that  he  should  draw  out 
the  forces,  whilst  himself,  by  reason  of  weakness,  stayed 
behind  with  a  few  in  the  camp.  Lucius,  engaging  rashly, 
was  discomfited,  when  Camillus,  perceiving  the  Romans 
to  give  ground  and  fly,  could  not  contain  himself,  but, 
leaping  from  his  bed,  with  those  he  had  about  him  ran  to 
meet  them  at  the  gates  of  the  camp,  making  his  way 
through  the  flyers  to  oppose  the  pursuers ;  so  that  those 
who  had  got  within  the  camp  turned  back  at  once  and 
followed  him,  and  those  that  came  flying  from  without 
made  head  again  and  gathered  about  him,  exhorting  one 
another  not  to  forsake  their  general.  Thus  the  enemy, 
for  that  time,  was  stopped  in  his  pursuit.  The  next  day 
Camillus,  drawing  out  his  forces  and  joining  battle  with 
them,  overthrew  them  by  main  force,  and,  following  close 
upon  them,  entered  pell-mell  with  them  into  their  camp, 
and  took  it,  slaying  the  greatest  part  of  them.  After- 
wards, having  heard  that  the  city  Satricum  was  taken  by' 
the  Tuscans,  and  the  inhabitants,  all  Romans,  put  to  the 
sword,  he  sent  home  to  Rome  the  main  body  of  his  forces 
and  heaviest-armed,  and,  taking  with  him  the  lightest  and 


CAMILLUS.  311 

most  vigorous  soldiers,  set  suddenly  upon  the  Tuscans, 
who  were  in  the  possession  of  the  city,  and  mastered 
them,  slaying  some  and  expelling  the  rest ;  and  so,  return- 
ing to  Rome  with  great  spoils,  gave  signal  evidence  of 
their  superior  wisdom,  who,  not  mistrusting  the  weakness 
and  age  of  a  commander  endued  with  courage  and  con- 
duct, had  rather  chosen  him  who  was  sickly  and  desirous 
to  be  excused,  than  younger  men  who  were  forward  and 
ambitious  to  command. 

When,  therefore,  the  revolt  of  the  Tusculans  was  re- 
ported, they  gave  Camillus  the  charge  of  reducing  them, 
choosing  one  of  his  five  colleagues  to  go  with  him.  And 
when  every  one  was  eager  for  the  place,  contrary  to  the 
expectation  of  all,  he  passed  by  the  rest  and  chose  Lucius 
Furius,  the  very  same  man  who  lately,  against  the  judg- 
ment of  Camillus,  had  rashly  hazarded  and  nearly  lost  a 
battle  ;  willing,  as  it  should  seem,  to  dissemble  that  mis- 
carriage, and  free  him  from  the  shame  of  it.  The  Tus- 
culans, hearing  of  Camillus's  coming  against  them,  made  a 
cunning  attempt  at  revoking  their  act  of  revolt;  their 
fields,  as  in  times  of  highest  peace,  were  full  of  ploughmen 
and  shepherds;  their  gates  stood  wide  open,  and  their 
children  were  being  taught  in  the  schools ;  of  the  people, 
such  as  were  tradesmen,  he  found  in  their  workshops, 
Dusied  about  their  several  employments,  and  the  better 
sort  of  citizens  walking  in  the  public  places  in  their  ordi- 
nary dress ;  the  magistrates  hurried  about  to  provide 
quarters  for  the  Romans,  as  if  they  stood  in  fear  of  no 
danger  and  were  conscious  of  no  fault.  Which  arts, 
though  they  could  not  dispossess  Camillus  of  the  convic- 
tion he  had  of  their  treason,  yet  induced  some  compassion 
for  their  repentance ;  he  commanded  them  to  go  to  the 
senate  and  deprecate  their  anger,  and  joined  himself  as 
an  intercessor  in  their  behalf,  so  that  their  city  was 
acquitted  of  all  guilt  and  admitted  to  Roman  citizenship. 


312  CAMILLUS. 

These  were  the  most  memorable  actions  of  his  sixth  tri- 
buneship. 

After  these  things,  Licinius  Stolo  raised  a  great  sedition 
in  the  city,  and  brought  the  people  to  dissension  with  the 
senate,  contending,  that  of  two   consuls  one  should  be 
chosen  out  of  the   commons,  and  not  both  out  of  the 
patricians.     Tribunes  of  the  people  were  chosen,  but  the 
election  of  consuls  was  interrupted  and  prevented  by  the 
people.     And  as  this  absence  of  any  supreme  magistrate 
was  leading  to  yet  further  confusion,  Camillus  was  the 
fourth  time  created  dictator  by  the  senate,  sorely  against 
the  people's  will,  and  not  altogether  in  accordance  with 
his  own ;    he    had    little   desire  for  a  conflict  with  men 
whose  past  services  entitled  them  to  tell  him  that  he  had 
achieved  far  greater  actions  in  war  along  with  them  than 
in  politics  with  the  patricians,  who,  indeed,  had  only  put 
him  forward  now  out  of  envy ;  that,  if  successful,  he  might 
crush  the  people,  or,  failing,  be  crushed  himself     How- 
ever, to  provide  as  good  a  remedy  as  he  could  for  the  pres- 
ent, knowing  the  day  on  which  the  tribunes  of  the  people 
intended  to  prefer  the  law,  he  appointed  it  by  proclama- 
tion for  a  general  muster,  and  called  the  people  from  the 
forum  into  the  Campus,  threatening  to  set  heavy  fines 
upon  such  as  should  not  obey.     On  the  other  side,  the 
tribunes  of  the  people  met  his  threats  by  solemnly  pro- 
testing they  would  fine  him  in  fifty  thousand  drachmas 
of  silver,  if  he  persisted  in  obstructing  the  people  from 
giving  their  sufirages  for  the  law.    Whether  it  were,  then, 
that  he   feared   another   banishment   or   condemnation, 
which  would  ill  become  his  age  and  past  great  actions,  or 
found  himself  unable  to  stem  the  current  of  the  multitude, 
which  ran  strong  and  violent,  he  betook  himself,  for  the 
present,  to  his  house,  and  afterwards,  for  some  days  to- 
gether, professing  sickness,  finally  laid  do^vn  his  dictator- 
ship.   The  senate  created  another  dictator ;  who,  choosing 


CAMILLUS.  313 

Stolo,  leader  of  the  sedition,  to  be  his  general  of  horse, 
suffered  that  law  to  be  enacted  and  ratified,  which  was 
most  grievous  to  the  patricians,  namely,  that  no  person 
whatsoever  should  possess  above  five  hundred  acres  of 
land.  Stolo  was  much  distinguished  by  the  victory  he 
had  gained  ;  but,  not  long  after,  was  found  himself  to  pos- 
sess more  than  he  had  allowed  to  others,  and  suffered  the 
penalties  of  his  own  law. 

And  now  the  contention  about  election  of  consuls  com- 
ing on  (which  was  the  main  point  and  original  cause  of  the 
dissension,  and  had  throughout  furnished  most  matter  of 
division  between  the  senate  and  the  people),  certain  intelli- 
gence arrived,  that  the  Gauls  again,  proceeding  from  the 
Adriatic  Sea,  were  marching  in  vast  numbers  upon  Rome. 
On  the  very  heels  of  the  report  followed  manifest  acts 
also  of  hostility ;  the  country  through  which  they  marched 
was  all  wasted,  and  such  as  by  flight  could  not  make  their 
escape  to  Rome  were  dispersing  and  scattering  among  the 
mountains.  The  terror  of  this  war  quieted  the  sedition ; 
nobles  and  commons,  senate  and  people  together,  unani- 
mously chose  Camillus  the  fifth  time  dictator ;  who,  though 
very  aged,  not  wanting  much  of  fourscore  years,  yet,  con- 
sidering the  danger  and  necessity  of  his  country,  did  not, 
as  before,  pretend  sickness,  or  depreciate  his  own  capacity, 
but  at  once  undertook  the  charge,  and  enrolled  soldiers. 
And,  knowing  that  the  great  force  of  the  barbarians  lay 
chiefly  in  their  swords,  with  which  they  laid  about  them 
in  a  rude  and  inartificial  manner,  hacking  and  hewing  the 
head  and  shoulders,  he  caused  head-pieces  entire  of  iron 
to  be  made  for  most  of  his  men,  smoothing  and  polishing 
the  outside,  that  the  enemy's  swords,  lighting  upon  them, 
might  either  slide  off  or  be  broken ;  and  fitted  also  their 
shields  with  a  little  rim  of  brass,  the  wood  itself  not  being 
sufficient  to  bear  off  the  blows.  Besides,  he  taught  his 
soldiers  to  use  their  long  javelins  in  close  encounter,  and, 


314  CAMILLUS. 

by  bringing  them  under  their  enemy's  swords,  to  receive 
their  strokes  upon  them. 

When  the  Gauls  drew  near,  about  the  river  Anio,  drag- 
ging a  heavy  camp  after  them,  and  loaded  with  infinite 
spoil,  Camillus  drew  forth  his  forces,  and  planted  him- 
self upon  a  hill  of  easy  ascent,  and  which  had  many 
dips  in  it,  with  the  object  that  the  greatest  part  of  his 
army  might  lie  concealed,  and  those  who  appeared  might 
be  thought  to  have  betaken  themselves,  through  fear,  to 
those  upper  grounds.  And  the  more  to  increase  this 
opinion  in  them,  he  suffered  them,  without  any  disturb- 
ance, to  spoil  and  pillage  even  to  his  very  trenches,  keep- 
ing himself  quiet  within  his  works,  which  were  well  forti- 
fied ;  till,  at  last,  perceiving  that  part  of  the  enemy  were 
scattered  about  the  country  foraging,  and  that  those  that 
were  in  the  camp  did  nothing  day  and  night  but  drink 
and  revel,  in  the  night  time  he  drew  up  his  lightest- 
armed  men,  and  sent  them  out  before  to  impede  the 
enemy  while  forming  into  order,  and  to  harass  them  when 
they  should  first  issue  out  of  their  camp ;  and  early  in  the 
morning  brought  down  his  main  body,  and  set  them  in 
battle  array  in  the  lower  grounds,  a  numerous  and  courar 
geous  army,  not,  as  the  barbarians  had  supposed,  an 
inconsiderable  and  fearful  division.  The  first  thing  that 
shook  the  courage  of  the  Gauls  was,  that  their  enemies 
had,  contrary  to  their  expectation,  the  honor  of  being 
aggressors.  In  the  next  place,  the  lightrarmed  men,  fall- 
ing upon  them  before  they  could  get  into  their  usual 
order  or  range  themselves  in  their  proper  squadrons,  so 
disturbed  and  pressed  upon  them,  that  they  were  obliged 
to  fight  at  random,  without  any  order  at  all.  But  at  last, 
when  Camillus  brought  on  his  heavy-armed  legions,  the 
barbarians,  with  their  swords  drawn,  went  vigorously  to 
engage  them  ;  the  Romans,  however,  opposing  their  jave- 
Uns,  and  receiving  the  force  of  their  blows  on  those  parts 


CAMILLUS.  315 

of  their  defences  which  were  well  guarded  with  steel, 
turned  the  edge  of  their  weapons,  being  made  of  a  soft 
and  ill-tempered  metal,  so  that  their  swords  bent  and 
doubled  up  in  their  hands ;  and  their  shields  were  pierced 
through  and  through,  and  grew  heavy  with  the  javelins 
that  stuck  upon  them.  And  thus  forced  to  quit  their 
own  weapons,  they  endeavored  to  take  advantage  of  those 
of  their  enemies,  laid  hold  of  the  javelins  with  their 
hands,  and  tried  to  pluck  them  away.  But  the  Romans, 
perceiving  them  now  naked  and  defenceless,  betook  them- 
selves to  their  swords,  which  they  so  well  used,  that  in  a 
little  time  great  slaughter  was  made  in  the  foremost  ranks, 
while  the  rest  fled  over  all  parts  of  the  level  country ;  the 
hills  and  upper  grounds  Camillus  had  secured  beforeliand, 
and  their  camp  they  knew  it  would  not  be  difficult  for 
the  enemy  to  take,  as,  through  confidence  of  victory,  they 
had  left  it  unguarded.  This  fight,  it  is  stated,  was  thirteen 
years  after  the  sacking  of  Rome ;  and  from  henceforward 
the  Romans  took  courage,  and  surmounted  the  apprehen- 
sions they  had  hitherto  entertained  of  the  barbarians, 
whose  previous  defeat  they  had  attributed  rather  to  pes- 
tilence and  a  concurrence  of  mischances  than  to  their 
own  superior  valor.  And,  indeed,  this  fear  had  been  for- 
merly so  great,  that  they  made  a  law,  that  priests  should 
be  excused  from  service  in  war,  unless  in  an  invasion  from 
the  Gauls. 

This  was  the  last  military  action  that  ever  Camillus 
performed ;  for  the  voluntary  surrender  of  the  city  of  the 
Vehtrani  was  but  a  mere  accessory  to  it.  But  the  greatest 
of  all  civil  contests,  and  the  hardest  to  be  managed,  was 
still  to  be  fought  out  against  the  people ;  who,  returning 
home  full  of  victory  and  success,  insisted,  contrary  to 
established  law,  to  have  one  of  the  consuls  chosen  out  of 
their  own  body.  The  senate  strongly  opposed  it,  and 
would  not  suffer  CamilliLS  to  lay  down  his  dictatorship, 


316  CAMILLUS. 

thinking,  that,  under  the  shelter  of  his  great  name  and 
authority,  they  should  be  better  able  to  contend  for  the 
power  of  the  aristocracy.  But  when  Camillus  was  sitting 
upon  the  tribunal,  despatching  public  affairs,  an  officer, 
sent  by  the  tribunes  of  the  people,  commanded  him  to 
rise  and  follow  him,  laying  his  hand  upon  him,  as  ready  to 
seize  and  carry  him  away ;  upon  which,  such  a  noise  and 
tumult  as  was  never  heard  before,  filled  the  whole  forum ; 
some  that  were  about  Camillus  thrusting  the  officer  from 
the  bench,  and  the  multitude  below  calling  out  to 
him  to  bring  Camillus  down.  Being  at  a  loss  what  to 
do  in  these  difficulties,  he  yet  laid  not  down  his  authority, 
but,  taking  the  senators  along  with  him,  he  went  to  the 
senate-house ;  but  before  he  entered,  besought  the  gods 
that  they  would  bring  these  troubles  to  a  happy  conclu- 
sion, solemnly  vowing,  when  the  tumult  was  ended,  to 
build  a  temple  to  Concord.  A  great  conflict  of  opposite 
opinions  arose  in  the  senate ;  but,  at  last,  the  most  mode- 
rate and  most  acceptable  to  the  people  prevailed,  and 
consent  was  given,  that  of  two  consuls,  one  should  be 
chosen  from  the  commonalty.  When  the  dictator  pro- 
claimed this  determination  of  the  senate  to  the  people, 
at  the  moment,  pleased  and  reconciled  with  the  senate,  as 
indeed  could  not  otherwise  be,  they  accompanied  Camil- 
lus home,  with  all  expressions  and  acclamations  of  joy ; 
and  the  next  day,  assembling  together,  they  voted  a 
temple  of  Concord  to  be  built,  according  to  Camillus's 
vow,  facing  the  assembly  and  the  forum;  and  to  the 
feasts,  called  the  Latin  holidays,  they  added  one  day 
more,  making  four  in  all ;  and  ordained  that,  on  the  pre- 
sent occasion,  the  whole  people  of  Rome  should  sacrifice 
with  garlands  on  their  heads. 

In  the  election  of  consuls  held  by  Camillus,  Marcus 
iEmOius  was  chosen  of  the  patricians,  and  Lucius  Sextius 
the  first  of  the  commonalty ;  and  this  was  the  last  of  all 


CA]VIILLUS.  317 

Camilliis's  actions.  In  the  year  following,  a  pestilential 
sickness  infected  Rome,  which,  besides  an  infinite  number 
of  the  common  people,  swept  away  most  of  the  magi- 
strates, among  whom  was  Camillus ;  whose  death  cannot 
be  called  immature,  if  we  consider  his  great  age,  or  greater 
actions,  yet  was  he  more  lamented  than  all  the  rest  put 
together  that  then  died  of  that  distemper. 


PERICLES. 


C^SAR  •*'  once,  seeing  some  wealthy  strangers  at  Rome, 
carrying  up  and  down  with  them  in  their  arms  and  bosoms 
young  puppy-dogs  and  monkeys,  embracing  and  making 
much  of  them,  took  occasion  not  unnaturally  to  ask 
whether  the  women  in  their  country  were  not  used  to 
bear  children;  by  that  prince-like  reprimand  gravely 
reflecting  upon  persons  who  spend  and  lavish  upon  brute 
beasts  that  aft'ection  and  kindness  which  nature  has  im- 
planted in  us  to  be  bestowed  on  those  of  our  own  kind. 
With  like  reason  may  we  blame  those  who  misuse  that 
love  of  inquiry  and  observation  which  nature  has  im- 
planted in  our  souls,  by  expending  it  on  objects  unworthy 
of  the  attention  either  of  their  eyes  or  their  ears,  while 
they  disregard  such  as  are  excellent  in  themselves,  and 
would  do  them  good. 

The  mere  outward  sense,  being  passive  in  responding  to 
the  impression  of  the  objects  that  come  in  its  way  and 
strike  upon  it,  perhaps  cannot  help  entertaining  and  ta- 
king notice  of  every  thing  that  addresses  it,  be  it  what  it 
will,  useful  or  unuseful ;  but,  in  the  exercise  of  his  mental 
perception,  every  man,  if  he  chooses,  has  a  natural  power 
to  turn  himself  upon  all  occasions,  and  to  change  and  shift 
with  the  greatest  ease  to  what  he  shall  himself  judge  de- 

*  Probably  Augustus. 

(318) 


PERICLES.  319 

sirable.  So  that  it  becomes  a  man's  duty  to  pursue  and 
make  after  the  best  and  choicest  of  every  thing,  that  he 
may  not  only  employ  his  contemplation,  but  may  also  be 
improved  by  it.  For  as  that  color  is  most  vsuitable  to  the 
eye  whose  freshness  and  pleasantness  stimulates  and 
strengthens  the  sight,  so  a  man  ought  to  apply  his  intel- 
lectual perception  to  such  objects  as,  with  the  sense  of  de- 
light, are  apt  to  call  it  forth,  and  allure  it  to  its  own  proper 
good  and  advantage. 

Such  objects  we  find  in  the  acts  of  virtue,  which  also 
produce  in  the  minds  of  mere  readers  about  them,  an 
emulation  and  eagerness  that  may  lead  them  on  to  imitar 
tion.  In  other  things  there  does  not  immediately  follow 
upon  the  admiration  and  liking  of  the  thing  done,  any 
strong  desire  of  doing  the  like.  Nay,  many  times,  on  the 
very  contrary,  when  we  are  pleased  with  the  work,  we 
slight  and  set  little  by  the  workman  or  artist  himself,  as, 
for  instance,  in  perfumes  and  purple  d^^es,  we  are  taken 
with  the  things  themselves  well  enough,  but  do  not  think 
dyers  and  perfumers  otherwise  than  low  and  sordid  peo- 
ple. It  was  not  said  amiss  by  Antisthenes,  when  people 
told  him  that  one  Ismenias  was  an  excellent  piper,  '"•  It 
may  be  so,"  said  he,  "but  he  is  but  a  wretched  human 
being,  otherwise  he  would  not  have  been  an  excellent 
piper."  And  king  Philip,  to  the  same  purpose,  told  his 
son  Alexander,  who  once  at  a  merry-meeting  played  a 
piece  of  music  charmingly  and  skilfully,  "Are  you  not 
ashamed,  son,  to  play  so  well  ?  "  For  it  is  enough  for  a 
king  or  prince  to  find  leisure  sometimes  to  hear  others 
sing,  and  he  does  the  muses  quite  honor  enough  when 
he  pleases  to  be  but  present,  while  others  engage  in  such 
exercises  and  trials  of  skill. 

He  who  busies  himself  in  mean  occupations  produces, 
in  the  very  pains  he  takes  about  things  of  little  or  no  use, 
an  evidence  against  himself  of  his  negligence  and  indis- 


320  PERICLES. 

position  to  what  is  really  good.  Nor  did  any  generous 
and  ingenuous  young  man,  at  the  sight  of  the  statue  of 
Jupiter  at  Pisa,  ever  desire  to  be  a  Phidias,  or,  on  seeing 
that  of  Juno  at  Argos,  long  to  be  a  Polycletus,  or  feel 
induced  by  his  pleasure  in  their  poems  to  wish  to  be  an 
Anacreon  or  Philetas  or  Archilochus.  For  it  does  not 
necessarily  follow,  that,  if  a  piece  of  work  please  for  its 
gracefulness,  therefore  he  that  wrought  it  deserves  our 
admiration.  Whence  it  is  that  neither  do  such  things 
really  profit  or  advantage  the  beholders,  upon  the  sight 
of  which  no  zeal  arises  for  the  imitation  of  them,  nor  any 
impulse  or  inclination,  which  may  prompt  any  desire  or 
endeavor  of  doing  the  like.  But  virtue,  by  the  bare 
statement  of  its  actions,  can  so  affect  men's  minds  as  to 
create  at  once  both  admiration  of  the  things  done  and 
desire  to  imitate  the  doers  of  them.  The  goods  of  for- 
tune we  would  possess  and  would  enjoy ;  those  of  virtue 
we  long  to  practise  and  exercise;  we  are  content  to 
receive  the  former  from  others,  the  latter  we  wish  others 
to  experience  from  us.  Moral  good  is  a  practical 
stimulus;  it  is  no  sooner  seen,  than  it  inspires  an  im- 
pulse to  practise ;  and  influences  the  mind  and  character 
not  by  a  mere  imitation  which  we  look  at,  but,  by  the 
statement  of  the  fact,  creates  a  moral  purpose  which  we 
form. 

And  so  we  have  thought  fit  to  spend  our  time  and 
pains  in  writing  of  the  lives  of  famous  persons;  and 
have  composed  this  tenth  book  upon  that  subject,  contain- 
ing the  life  of  Pericles,  and  that  of  Fabius  Maximus,  who 
carried  on  the  war  against  Hannibal,  men  ahke,  as  in 
their  other  virtues  and  good  parts,  so  especially  in 
their  mild  and  upright  temper  and  demeanor,  and  in 
that  capacity  to  bear  the  cross-grained  humors  of  their 
fellow-citizens  and  colleagues  in  office  which  made  them 
both  most  useful  and  serviceable  to  the  interests  of  their 


PERICLES.  321 

countries.  Whether  we  take  a  right  aim  at  our  intended 
purpose,  it  is  left  to  the  reader  to  judge  by  what  he  shall 
here  find. 

Pericles  was  of  the  tribe  Acamantis,  and  the  township 
Cholargus,  of  the  noblest  birth  both  on  his  father's  and 
mother's  side.  Xanthippus,  his  father,  who  defeated  the 
king  of  Persia's  generals  in  the  battle  at  Mycale,  took  to 
wife  Agariste,  the  grandchild  of  Clisthenes,  who  drove 
out  the  sons  of  Pisistratus,  and  nobly  put  an  end  to  their 
tyrannical  usurpation,  and  moreover  made  a  body  of 
laws,  and  settled  a  model  of  government  admirably  tem- 
pered and  suited  for  the  harmony  and  safety  of  the  peo- 
ple. 

His  mother,  being  near  her  time,  fancied  in  a  dream 
that  she  was  brought  to  bed  of  a  lion,  and  a  few  days 
after  was  delivered  of  Pericles,  in  other  respects  perfectly 
formed,  only  his  head  was  somewhat  longish  and  out  of 
proportion.  For  which  reason  almost  all  the  images  and 
statues  that  were  made  of  him  have  the  head  covered 
with  a  helmet,  the  w^orkmen  apparently  being  willing  not 
to  expose  him.  The  poets  of  Athens  called  him  Schino- 
cephalos,  or  squill-head,  from  schinos,  a  squill,  or  sea-onion. 
One  of  the  comic  poets,  Cratinus,  in  the  Chirons,  tells  us 
that  — 

Old  Chronos  once  took  queen  Sedition  to  wife ; 

Which  two  brought  to  life 

That  tyrant  far-famed, 

Whom  the  gods  the  supreme  skull-compeller*  have  named. 

And,  in  the  Nemesis,  addresses  him  — 

Come,  Jove,  thou  head  of  gods. 

*  Kephalegeretes,  a  play  on  Nephelegeretes,  the  cloud-compeller. 
VOL.  I  21 


322  PERICLES 

And  a  second,  Teleclides,  says,  that  now,  in  embarrass- 
ment with  political  difficulties,  he  sits  in  the  city,  — 

Fainting  underneath  the  load 
Of  his  own  head ;  and  now  abroad, 
From  his  huge  gallery  of  a  pate, 
Sends  forth  trouble  to  the  state. 

And  a  third,  Eupolis,  in  the  comedy  called  the  Demi,  in  a 
series  of  questions  about  each  of  the  demagogues,  whom 
he  makes  in  the  play  to  come  up  from  hell,  upon  Pericles 
being  named  last,  exclaims,  — 

And  here  by  way  of  summary,  now  we  Ve  done, 
Behold,  in  brief,  the  heads  of  all  in  one. 

The  master  that  taught  him  music,  most  authors  are 
agreed,  was  Damon  (whose  name,  they  say,  ought  to  be 
pronounced  with  the  first  syllable  short).  Though  Ari- 
stotle tells  us  that  he  was  thoroughly  practised  in  all  accom- 
plishments of  this  kind  by  Pythoclides.  Damon,  it  is  not 
unlikely,  being  a  sophist,  out  of  policy,  sheltered  himself 
under  the  profession  of  music  to  conceal  from  people  in 
general  his  skill  in  other  things,  and  under  this  pretence 
attended  Pericles,  the  young  athlete  of  politics,  so  to  say, 
as  his  training-master  in  these  exercises.  Damon's  lyre, 
however,  did  not  prove  altogether  a  successful  blind ;  he 
was  banished  the  country  by  ostracism  for  ten  years,  as  a 
dangerous  intermeddler  and  a  favorer  of  arbitrary  power, 
and,  by  this  means,  gave  the  stage  occasion  to  play  upon 
him.  As,  for  instance,  Plato,  the  comic  poet,  introduces  a 
character,  who  questions  him  — 

Tell  me,  if  you  please, 
Since  you  're  the  Chiron  who  taught  Pericles. 

Pericles,  also,  was  a  hearer  of  Zeno,  the  Eleatic,  who 


PERICLES.  32o 

treated  of  natural  pliilosoi:)hy  in  the  same  manner  as  Par- 
menides  did,  but  had  also  perfected  himself  in  an  art  of 
his  own  for  refuting  and  silencing  opponents  in  argument ; 
as  Timon  of  Phlius  describes  it,  — 

Also  the  two-edged  tongue  of  mighty  Zeno,  who, 
Say  what  one  would,  could  argue  it  untrue. 

But  he  that  saw  most  of  Pericles,  and  furnished  him 
most  especially  with  a  weight  and  grandeur  of  sense, 
superior  to  all  arts  of  popularity,  and  in  general  gave  him 
his  elevation  and  sublimity  of  purpose  and  of  character, 
was  Anaxagoras  of  Clazomenae ;  whom  the  men  of  those 
times  called  by  the  name  of  Nous,  that  is,  mind,  or  intelli- 
gence, whether  in  admiration  of  the  great  and  extraor- 
dinary gift  he  displayed  for  the  science  of  nature,  or  be- 
cause that  he  was  the  first  of  the  philosophers  who  did  not 
refer  the  first  ordering  of  the  world  to  fortune  or  chance, 
nor  to  necessit}^  or  compulsion,  but  to  a  pure,  unadulte- 
rated intelligence,  which  in  all  other  existing  mixed  and 
compound  things  acts  as  a  principle  of  discrimination,  and 
of  combination  of  like  with  like. 

For  this  man,  Pericles  entertained  an  extraordinary 
esteem  and  admiration,  and,  filling  himself  with  this  lofty, 
and,  as  they  call  it,  up-in-the-air  sort  of  thought,  derived 
hence  not  merely,  as  was  natural,  elevation  of  purpose  and 
dignity  of  language,  raised  far  above  the  base  and  dis- 
honest buffooneries  of  mob-eloquence,  but,  besides  this, 
a  composure  of  countenance,  and  a  serenity  and  calmness 
in  all  his  movements,  which  no  occurrence  whilst  he  was 
speaking  could  disturb,  a  sustained  and  even  tone  of 
voice,  and  various  other  advantages  of  a  similar  kind, 
which  produced  the  greatest  effect  on  his  hearers.  Once, 
after  being  reviled  and  ill-spoken  of  all  day  long  in 
his  own  hearing  by  some  vile  and  abandoned  fellow  in 


324  PERICLES. 

the  open  market-place,  where  he  was  engaged  in  the 
despatch  of  some  urgent  affair,  he  continued  his  business 
in  perfect  silence,  and  in  the  evening  returned  home 
composedly,  the  man  still  dogging  him  at  the  heels,  and 
pelting  him  all  the  way  with  abuse  and  foul  language ; 
and  stepping  into  his  house,  it  being  by  this  time  dark,  he 
ordered  one  of  his  servants  to  take  a  light,  and  to  go  along 
with  the  man  and  see  him  safe  home.  Ion,  it  is  true,  the 
dramatic  poet,  says  that  Pericles's  manner  in  company 
was  somewhat  over-assuming  and  pompous ;  and  that 
into  his  high  bearing  there  entered  a  good  deal  of  slight- 
ingness  and  scorn  of  others ;  he  reserves  his  commenda- 
tion for  Cimon's  ease  and  pliancy  and  natural  grace  in 
society.  Ion,  however,  who  must  needs  make  virtue,  like 
a  show  of  tragedies,  include  some  comic  scenes,*  we  shall 
not  altogether  rely  upon;  Zeno  used  to  bid  those  who 
called  Pericles's  gravity  the  affectation  of  a  charlatan,  to 
go  and  affect  the  like  themselves ;  inasmuch  as  this  mere 
counterfeiting  might  in  time  insensibly  instil  into  them 
a  real  love  and  knowledge  of  those  noble  qualities. 

Nor  were  these  the  only  advantages  which  Pericles 
derived  from  Anaxagoras's  acquaintance ;  he  seems  also 
to  have  become,  by  his  instructions,  superior  to  that 
superstition  with  which  an  ignorant  wonder  at  appear- 
ances, for  example,  in  the  heavens  possesses  the  minds  of 
people  unacquainted  with  their  causes,  eager  for  the  su 
pernatural,  and  excitable  through  an  inexperience  which 
the  knowledge  of  natural  causes  removes,  replacing  wild 
and  timid  superstition  by  the  good  hope  and  assurance 
of  an  intelligent  piety. 

There  is  a  story,  that  once  Pericles  had  brought  to  him 


*  Tliree    tragedies    represented  must  be  remembered,  with  the  mo- 

in  succession   were  followed  by  a  ral  satire  of  the  Romans,  but  takes 

burlesque,  the  so-called  satyric  dra-  its  name  from  the  grotesque  satjTS 

ma,   which   has   no   connection,  it  of  the  Greek  woods. 


PERICLES.  325 

from  a  country  farm  of  his,  a  ram's  head  with  one  horn, 
and  that  Lampon,  the  diviner,  upon  seeing  the  horn  grow 
strong  and  soHd  out  of  the  midst  of  the  forehead,  gave  it 
as  his  judgment,  that,  there  being  at  that  time  two  potent 
factions,  parties,  or  interests  in  the  city,  the  one  of  Thu- 
cydides  and  the  other  of  Pericles,  the  government  would 
come  about  to  that  one  of  them  in  whose  ground  or  estate 
this  token  or  indication  of  fate  had  shown  itself  But 
that  Anaxagoras,  cleaving  the  skull  in  sunder,  showed  to 
the  bystanders  that  the  brain  had  not  filled  up  its  natu- 
ral place,  but  being  oblong,  like  an  egg,  had  collected  from 
all  parts  of  the  vessel  which  contained  it,  in  a  point  to  that 
place  from  whence  the  root  of  the  horn  took  its  rise. 
And  that,  for  that  time,  Anaxagoras  was  much  admired 
for  his  explanation  by  those  that  were  present;  and 
Lampon  no  less  a  little  while  after,  when  Thucydides  was 
overpowered,  and  the  whole  affairs  of  the  state  and  go- 
vernment came  into  the  hands  of  Pericles. 

And  yet,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  no  absurdity  to  say  that 
they  were  both  in  the  right,  both  natural  philosopher 
and  diviner,  one  justly  detecting  the  cause  of  this  event, 
by  which  it  was  produced,  the  other  the  end  for  which  it 
was  designed.  For  it  was  the  business  of  the  one  to  find 
out  and  give  an  account  of  what  it  was  made,  and  in 
what  manner  and  by  what  means  it  grew  as  it  did ;  and 
of  the  other  to  foretell  to  what  end  and  purpose  it 
was  so  made,  and  what  it  might  mean  or  portend.  Those 
who  say  that  to  find  out  the  cause  of  a  prodigy  is  in 
effect  to  destroy  its  supposed  signification  as  such,  do  not 
take  notice  that,  at  the  same  time,  together  with  divine 
prodigies,  they  also  do  away  with  signs  and  signals  of  hu- 
man art  and  concert,  as,  for  instance,  the  clashings  of  quoits, 
fire-beacons,  and  the  shadows  on  sun-dials,  every  one  of 
which  things  has  its  cause,  and  by  that  cause  and  contri- 


326  PERICLES. 

vance  is  a  sign  of  something  else.    But  these  are  subjects^ 
perhaps,  that  would  better  befit  another  place. 

Pericles,  while  yet  but  a  young  man,  stood  in  consid- 
erable apprehension  of  the  people,  as  he  was  thought  in 
face  and  figure  to  be  very  like  the  tyrant  Pisistratus,  and 
those  of  great  age  remarked  upon  the  sweetness  of  his 
voice,  and  his  volubility  and  rapidity  in  speaking,  and 
were  struck  with  amazement  at  the  resemblance.  Re- 
flecting, too,  that  he  had  a  considerable  estate,  and  was 
descended  of  a  noble  family,  and  had  friends  of  great  in- 
fluence, he  was  fearful  all  this  might  bring  him  to  be 
banished  as  a  dangerous  person;  and  for  this  reason 
meddled  not  at  all  with  state  affairs,  but  in  military  ser- 
vice showed  himself  of  a  brave  and  intrepid  nature.  But 
when  Aristides  was  now  dead,  and  Themistocles  driven 
out,  and  Cimon  was  for  the  most  part  kept  abroad  by 
the  expeditions  he  made  in  parts  out  of  Greece,  Pericles, 
seeing  things  in  this  posture,  now  advanced  and  took  his 
side,  not  with  the  rich  and  few,  but  with  the  many  and 
poor,  contrary  to  his  natural  bent,  which  was  far  from 
democratical ;  but,  most  likely,  fearing  he  might  fall  under 
suspicion  of  aiming  at  arbitrary  power,  and  seeing  Cimon 
on  the  side  of  the  aristocracy,  and  much  beloved  by  the 
better  and  more  distinguished  people,  he  joined  the  party 
of  the  people,  with  a  view  at  once  both  to  secure  himself 
and  procure  means  against  Cimon. 

He  immediately  entered,  also,  on  quite  a  new  course  of 
life  and  management  of  his  time.  For  he  was  never  seen 
to  walk  in  any  street  but  that  which  led  to  the  market- 
place and  the  council-hall,  and  he  avoided  invitations  of 
friends  to  supper,  and  all  friendly  visiting  and  intercourse 
whatever ;  in  all  the  time  he  had  to  do  with  the  public, 
which  was  not  a  little,  he  was  never  known  to  have  gone 
to  any  of  his  friends  to  a  supper,  except  that  once  when 


PERICLES.  327 

his  near  kinsman  Euryptolemus  married,  he  remained 
present  till  the  ceremony  of  the  drink-offering/-^  and 
then  immediately  rose  from  table  and  went  his  way. 
For  these  friendly  meetings  are  very  quick  to  defeat  any 
assumed  superiority,  and  in  intimate  familiarity  an  exte- 
rior of  gravity  is  hard  to  maintain.  Real  excellence, 
indeed,  is  most  recognized  when  most  openly  looked 
into ;  and  in  really  good  men,  nothing  which  meets  the 
eyes  of  external  observers  so  truly  deserves  their  admira- 
tion, as  their  daily  common  life  does  that  of  their  nearer 
friends.  Pericles,  however,  to  avoid  any  feeling  of  com- 
monness, or  any  satiety  on  the  part  of  the  people,  pre- 
sented himself  at  intervals  only,  not  speaking  to  every 
business,  nor  at  all  times  coming  into  the  assembly,  but, 
as  Critolaus  says,  reserving  himself,  like  the  Salaminian 
gallej^jf  for  great  occasions,  while  matters  of  lesser  im- 
portance were  despatched  by  friends  or  other  speakers 
under  his  direction.  And  of  this  number  we  are  told 
Ephialtes  made  one,  who  broke  the  power  of  the  council 
of  Areopagus,  giving  the  people,  according  to  Plato's  ex- 
pression, so  copious  and  so  strong  a  draught  of  liberty, 
that,  growing  wild  and  unruly,  like  an  unmanageable 
horse,  it,  as  the  comic  poets  say,  — 

" got  beyond  all  keeping  in, 


Champing  at  Eubcea,  and  among  the  islands  leaping  in." 

The  style  of  speaking  most  consonant  to  his  form  of 
life  and  the  dignity  of  his  views  he  found,  so  to  say,  in 
the  tones  of  that  instrument  with  which  Anaxagoras  had 
furnished  him ;  of  his  teaching  he  continually  availed 
himself,  and  deepened  the  colors  of  rhetoric  with  the  dye 

*  The  spondai,  or  libations,  which,  t  The  Salaminia  and  the  Para- 
like  the  modern  grace,  concluded  lus  were  the  two  sacred  state-gal- 
the  meal,  and  were  followed  by  the  leys  of  Athens,  used  only  on  spe- 
dessert.  cial  missions. 


328  PERICLES. 

of  natural  science.  For  ha^sdng,  in  addition  to  his  great 
natural  genius,  attained,  by  the  study  of  nature,  to  use 
the  words  of  the  divine  Plato,  this  height  of  intelligence, 
and  this  universal  consummating  power,  and  drawing 
hence  whatever  might  be  of  advantage  to  him  in  the  art 
of  speaking,  he  showed  himself  far  superior  to  all  others. 
Upon  which  account,  they  say,  he  had  his  nickname 
given  him,  though  some  are  of  opinion  he  was  named 
the  Olympian  from  the  public  buildings  with  which 
he  adorned  the  city;  and  others  again,  from  his  great 
power  in  public  affairs,  whether  of  war  or  peace.  Nor 
is  it  unlikely  that  the  confluence  of  many  attributes  may 
have  conferred  it  on  him.  However,  the  comedies  repre- 
sented at  the  time,  which,  both  in  good  earnest  and  in 
merriment,  let  fly  many  hard  words  at  him,  plainly  show 
that  he  got  that  appellation  especially  from  his  speaking ; 
they  speak  of  his  "  thundering  and  lightning  "  when  he 
harangued  the  people,  and  of  his  wielding  a  dreadful 
thunderbolt  in  his  tongue. 

A  saying  also  of  Thucydides,  the  son  of  Melesias,  stands 
on  record,  spoken  by  him  by  way  of  pleasantry  upon 
Pericles's  dexterity.  Thucydides  was  one  of  the  noble 
and  distinguished  citizens,  and  had  been  his  greatest 
opponent ;  and,  when  Archidamus,  the  king  of  the  Lace- 
dasmonians,  asked  him  whether  he  or  Pericles  were  the 
better  wrestler,  he  made  this  answer :  "  When  I,"  said  he, 
"  have  thrown  him  and  given  him  a  fair  fall,  by  persisting 
that  he  had  no  fall,  he  gets  the  better  of  me,  and  makes 
the  bystanders,  in  spite  of  their  own  eyes,  believe  him." 
The  truth,  however,  is,  that  Pericles  himself  was  very 
careful  what  and  how  he  was  to  speak,  insomuch  that, 
whenever  he  went  up  to  the  hustings,  he  prayed  the  gods 
that  no  one  word  might  unawares  slip  from  him  unsuit- 
able to  the  matter  and  the  occasion. 

Tie  has  left  nothing  in  writing  behind  him,  except  some 


PERICLES.  329 

decrees ;  and  there  are  but  very  fc^w  of  his  sayings 
recorded ;  one,  for  example,  is,  that  he  said  ^gina 
must,  hke  a  gathering  in  a  man's  eye,  be  removed  from 
Pirseus ;  and  another,  that  he  said  he  saw  ah-eadj'^  war 
moving  on  its  way  towards  them  out  of  Peloponnesus. 
Again,  when  on  a  time  Sophocles,  who  was  his  fellow-com- 
missioner in  the  generalship,  was  going  on  board  with 
him,  and  praised  the  beauty  of  a  3'outh  they  met  with  in 
the  way  to  the  ship,  "  Sophocles,"  said  he,  "  a  general 
ought  not  only  to  have  clean  hands,  but  also  clean  eyes." 
And  Stesimbrotus  tells  us,  that,  in  his  encomium  on  those 
who  fell  in  battle  at  Samos,  he  said  they  were  become 
immortal,  as  the  gods  were.  ''  For,"  said  he,  "  we  do  not 
see  them  themselves,  but  only  b}'  the  honors  we  pay 
them,  and  by  the  benefits  they  do  us,  attribute  to  them 
immortality ;  and  the  like  attributes  belong  also  to  those 
that  die  in  the  service  of  their  country." 

Since  Thucydides  describes  the  rule  of  Pericles  as  an 
aristocratical  government,  that  went  by  the  name  of  a 
democracy,  but  was,  indeed,  the  supremacy  of  a  single 
great  man,  while  many  others  say,  on  the  contrary,  that 
by  him  the  common  people  were  first  encouraged  and  led 
on  to  such  evils  as  appropriations  of  subject  territory; 
allowances  for  attending  theatres,  payments  for  perform- 
ing public  duties,  and  by  these  bad  habits  w^ere,  under  the 
influence  of  his  public  measures,  changed  from  a  sober, 
thrifty  people,  that  maintained  themselves  by  their  own 
labors,  to  lovers  of  expense,  intemperance,  and  license, 
let  us  examine  the  cause  of  this  change  b}'^  the  actual 
matters  of  fact. 

At  the  first,  as  has  been  said,  when  he  set  himself 
against  Cimon's  great  authority,  he  did  caress  the  people. 
Finding  himself  come  short  of  his  competitor  in  wealth 
and  money,  by  which  advantages  the  other  was  enabled 
to  take  care  of  the  poor,  inviting  every  day  some  one  or 


330  PERICLES. 

other  of  the  citizens  that  was  in  want  to  supper,  and 
bestowing  clothes  on  the  aged  people,  and  breaking  down 
the  hedges  and  enclosures  of  his  grounds,  that  all  that 
would  might  freely  gather  what  fruit  they  pleased,  Peri- 
cles, thus  outdone  in  popular  arts,  by  the  advice  of  one 
Damonides  of  (Ea,  as  Aristotle  states,  turned  to  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  public  moneys ;  and  in  a  short  time  having 
bought  the  people  over,  what  with  moneys  allowed  for 
shows  and  for  service  on  juries,  and  what  with  other  forms 
of  pay  and  largess,  he  made  use  of  them  against  the  coun- 
cil of  Areopagus,  of  which  he  himself  was  no  member,  as 
having  never  been  appointed  by  lot  either  chief  archon, 
or  lawgiver,  or  king,  or  captain  *  For  from  of  old  these 
offices  were  conferred  on  persons  by  lot,  and  they  w^ho 
had  acquitted  themselves  duly  in  the  discharge  of  them 
were  advanced  to  the  court  of  Areopagus.  And  so  Peri- 
cles, having  secured  his  power  and  interest  with  the  popu- 
lace, directed  the  exertions  of  his  party  against  this 
council  with  such  success,  that  most  of  those  causes  and 
matters  which  had  been  used  to  be  tried  there,  were,  by 
the  agency  of  Ephialtes,  removed  from  its  cognizance  ; 
Cimon,  also,  was  banished  by  ostracism  as  a  favorer  of 
the  LacedaBmonians  and  a  hater  of  the  people,  though 
in  wealth  and  noble  birth  he  was  among  the  first,  and  had 
won  several  most  glorious  victories  over  the  barbarians, 
and  had  filled  the  city  with  money  and  spoils  of  war ;  as 
is  recorded  in  the  history  of  his  life.  So  vast  an  authority 
had  Pericles  obtained  among  the  people. 

The  ostracism  was  limited  by  law  to  ten  years ;    but 
the  Lacedaemonians,  in  the  mean  time,  entering  with  a 

*  Eponymus,  Thesmothetes,  Basi-  the  whole  body  of  citizens.    Hence, 

leus,  Polemarchus  ;  titles  of  the  dif-  at  this  time,  the  importance  of  the 

ferent  archons,  the  chief  civic  digni-  board  of  the  ten  strategi,  or  gene- 

taries,  who,  after  the  period  of  the  rals,  who  were   elected,  and  were 

Persian  wars,  were  appointed,  not  always  persons  of  real  or  supposed 

by  election,  but  simply  by  lot,  from  capacity. 


PERICLES.  331 

great  army  into  the  territory  of  Tanagra,  and  the  Athe- 
nians going  out  against  them,  Cimon,  coming  from  his 
banishment  before  his  time  was  out,  put  himself  in  arms 
and  array  with  those  of  his  fellow-citizens  that  were  of 
his  own  tribe,  and  desired  by  his  deeds  to  wipe  off  the 
suspicion  of  his  favoring  the  Lacedaemonians,  by  ven- 
turing his  own  person  along  with  his  countrymen.  But 
Pericles's  friends,  gathering  in  a  body,  forced  him  to  retire 
as  a  banished  man.  For  which  cause  also  Pericles  seems 
to  have  exerted  himself  more  in  that  than  in  any  battle, 
and  to  have  been  conspicuous  above  all  for  his  exposure 
of  himself  to  danger.  All  Cimon's  friends,  also,  to  a  man, 
fell  together  side  by  side,  whom  Pericles  had  accused 
with  him  of  taking  part  with  the  Lacedsemonians.  De- 
feated in  this  battle  on  their  own  frontiers,  and  expecting 
a  new  and  perilous  attack  with  return  of  spring,  the 
Athenians  now  felt  regret  and  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  Ci- 
mon,  and  repentance  for  their  expulsion  of  him.  Pericles, 
being  sensible  of  their  feelings,  did  not  hesitate  or  delay 
to  gratify  it,  and  himself  made  the  motion  for  recalling 
him  home.  He,  upon  his  return,  concluded  a  peace  be- 
twixt the  two  cities ;  for  the  Lacedaemonians  entertained 
as  kindly  feelings  towards  him  as  they  did  the  reverse 
towards  Pericles  and  the  other  popular  leaders. 

Yet  some  there  are  who  say  that  Pericles  did  not  pro- 
pose the  order  for  Cimon's  return  till  some  private  arti- 
cles of  agreement  had  been  made  between  them,  and  this 
by  means  of  Elpinice,  Cimon's  sister ;  that  Cimon,  namely, 
should  go  out  to  sea  with  a  fleet  of  two  hundred  ships, 
and  be  commander-in-chief  abroad,  with  a  design  to  re- 
duce the  king  of  Persia's  territories,  and  that  Pericles 
should  have  the  power  at  home. 

This  Elpinice,  it  was  thought,  had  before  this  time  pro- 
cured some  favor  for  her  brother  Cimon  at  Pericles's  hands, 
and  induced  him  to  be  more  remiss  and  gentle  in  urging 


332  PERICLES. 

the  charge  when  Cimon  was  tried  for  his  life ;  for  Peri- 
cles was  one  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  commons 
to  plead  against  him.  And  when  Elpinice  came  and  be- 
sought him  in  her  brother's  behalf,  he  answered,  with  a 
smile,  "  0  Elpinice,  you  are  too  old  a  woman  to  under- 
take such  business  as  this."  But,  when  he  appeared  to 
impeach  him,  he  stood  up  but  once  to  speak,  merely  to 
acquit  himself  of  his  commission,  and  went  out  of  court, 
having  done  Cimon  the  least  prejudice  of  any  of  his  ac- 
cusers. 

How,  then,  can  one  believe  Idomeneus,  who  charges 
Pericles  as  if  he  had  by  treachery  procured  the  murder 
of  Ephialtes,  the  popular  statesman,  one  who  was  his 
friend,  and  of  his  own  party  in  all  his  political  course,  out 
of  jealousy,  forsooth,  and  envy  of  his  great  reputation  ? 
This  historian,  it  seems,  having  raked  up  these  stories,  I 
know  not  whence,  has  befouled  with  them  a  man  who, 
perchance,  was  not  altogether  free  from  fault  or  blame, 
but  yet  had  a  noble  spirit,  and  a  soul  that  was  bent  on 
honor ;  and  where  such  qualities  are,  there  can  no  such 
cruel  and  brutal  passion  find  harbor  or  gain  admittance. 
As  to  Ephialtes,  the  truth  of  the  story,  as  Aristotle  has 
told  it,  is  this :  that  having  made  himself  formidable  to 
the  oligarchical  party,  by  being  an  uncompromising  as- 
serter  of  the  people's  rights  in  calling  to  account  and 
prosecuting  those  who  any  way  wronged  them,  his  ene- 
mies, lying  in  wait  for  him,  by  the  means  of  Aristodicus 
the  Tanagraean,  privately  despatched  him. 

Cimon,  while  he  was  admiral,  ended  his  days  in  the  Isle 
of  Cyprus.  And  the  aristocratical  party,  seeing  that 
Pericles  was  already  before  this  grown  to  be  the  greatest 
and  foremost  man  of  all  the  city,  but  nevertheless  wishing 
there  should  be  somebody  set  up  against  him,  to  blunt 
and  turn  the  edge  of  his  power,  that  it  might  not  alto- 
gether prove  a  monarchy,  put   forward  Thucydides   of 


PERICLES.  333 

Alopece,  a  discreet  person,  and  a  near  kinsman  of  Cimon's, 
to  conduct  the  opposition  against  him ;  who,  indeed, 
though  less  skilled  in  warlike  affairs  than  Cimon  was,  yet 
was  better  versed  in  speaking  and  political  business,  and 
keeping  close  guard  in  the  city,  and  engaging  with  Peri- 
cles on  the  hustings,  in  a  short  time  brought  the  govern- 
ment to  an  equality  of  parties.  For  he  woidd  not  suffer 
those  who  were  called  the  honest  and  good  (persons 
of  worth  and  distinction)  to  be  scattered  up  and  down  and 
mix  themselves  and  be  lost  among  the  populace,  as  for- 
merly, diminishing  and  obscuring  their  superiority  amongst 
the  masses;  but  taking  them  apart  by  themselves  and 
uniting  +hem  in  one  body,  by  their  combined  weight  he 
was  able,  as  it  were  upon  the  balance,  to  make  a  counter- 
poise to  the  other  party. 

For,  indeed,  there  was  from  the  beginning  a  sort  of  con- 
cealed split,  or  seam,  as  it  might  be  in  a  piece  of  iron, 
marking  the  different  popular  and  aristocratical  tenden- 
cies; but  the  open  rivalry  and  contention  of  these  two 
opponents  made  the  gash  deep,  and  severed  the  city 
into  the  two  parties  of  the  people  and  the  few.  And  so 
Pericles,  at  that  time  more  than  at  any  other,  let  loose 
the  reins  to  the  people,  and  made  his  policy  subservient 
to  their  pleasure,  contriving  continually  to  have  some 
great  public  show  or  solemnity,  some  banquet,  or  some 
procession  or  other  in  the  town  to  please  them,  coaxing 
his  countrymen  like  children,  with  such  delights  and 
pleasures  as  were  not,  however,  unedifying.  Besides  that 
every  year  he  sent  out  threescore  galleys,  on  board  of 
which  there  went  numbers  of  the  citizens,  who  were  in  pay 
eight  months,  learning  at  the  same  time  and  practising 
the  art  of  seamanship. 

He  sent,  moreover,  a  thousand  of  them  into  the  Cher- 
sonese as  planters,  to  share  the  land  among  them  by  lot, 
and  five  hundred  more  into  the  isle  of  Naxos,  and  half 


334  PERICLES. 

that  number  to  Andros,  a  thousand  into  Thrace  to  dwell 
among  the  Bisaltae,  and  others  into  Italy,  when  the  city 
Sybaris,  which  now  was  called  Thurii,  was  to  be  repeopled. 
And  this  he  did  to  ease  and  discharge  the  city  of  an  idle, 
and,  by  reason  of  their  idleness,  a  busy,  meddling  crowd 
of  people ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  meet  the  necessities 
and  restore  the  fortunes  of  the  poor  townsmen,  and  to 
intimidate,  also,  and  check  their  allies  from  attempting 
any  change,  by  posting  such  garrisons,  as  it  were,  in  the 
midst  of  them. 

That  which  gave  most  pleasure  and  ornament  to  the 
city  of  Athens,  and  the  greatest  admiration  and  even  aston- 
ishment to  all  strangers,  and  that  which  now  is  Greece's 
only  evidence  that  the  power  she  boasts  of  and  her 
ancient  wealth  are  no  romance  or  idle  story,  was  his  con- 
struction of  the  public  and  sacred  buildings.  Yet  this 
was  that  of  all  his  actions  in  the  government  which  his 
enemies  most  looked  askance  upon  and  cavilled  at  in  the 
popular  assemblies,  crying  out  how  that  the  common- 
wealth of  Athens  had  lost  its  reputation  and  was  ill- 
spoken  of  abroad  for  removing  the  common  treasure  of 
the  Greeks  from  the  isle  of  Delos  into  their  own  custody ; 
and  how  that  their  fairest  excuse  for  so  doing,  namely, 
that  they  took  it  away  for  fear  the  barbarians  should 
seize  it,  and  on  purpose  to  secure  it  in  a  safe  place,  this 
Pericles  had  made  unavailable,  and  how  that  "  Greece 
cannot  but  resent  it  as  an  insufferable  affront,  and  con- 
sider herself  to  be  tyrannized  over  openly,  when  she  sees 
the  treasure,  which  was  contributed  by  her  upon  a  neces- 
sity for  the  war,  wantonly  lavished  out  by  us  upon  our 
city,  to  gild  her  all  over,  and  to  adorn  and  set  her  forth, 
as  it  were  some  vain  woman,  hung  round  with  precious 
stones  and  figures  and  temples,  which  cost  a  world  of 
money," 

Pericles,  on  the  other  hand,  informed  the  people,  that 


PERICLES.  335 

they  were  in  no  way  obliged  to  give  any  account  of  those 
moneys  to  their  allies,  so  long  as  they  maintained  their 
defence,  and  kept  off  the  barbarians  from  attacking  them; 
while  in  tlie  mean  time  they  did  not  so  much  as  supply 
one  horse  or  man  or  ship,  but  only  found  money  for  the 
service ;  "  which  money,"  said  he,  "  is  not  theirs  that  give 
it,  but  theirs  that  receive  it,  if  so  be  they  perform  the 
conditions  upon  which  they  receive  it."  And  that  it  was 
good  reason,  that,  now  the  city  was  sufficiently  provided 
and  stored  with  all  things  necessary  for  the  war,  they 
should  convert  the  overplus  of  its  wealth  to  such  under- 
takings, as  would  hereafter,  when  completed,  give  them 
eternal  honor,  and,  for  the  present,  while  in  process,  freely 
supply  all  the  inhabitants  with  plenty.  With  their  variety 
of  workmanship  and  of  occasions  for  service,  which  sum- 
mon all  arts  and  trades  and  require  all  hands  to  be  em- 
ployed about  them,  they  do  actually  put  the  whole  city, 
in  a  manner,  into  state-pay ;  while  at  the  same  time  she 
is  both  beautified  and  maintained  by  herself  For  as 
those  who  are  of  age  and  strength  for  war  are  provided 
for  and  maintained  in  the  armaments  abroad  by  their 
pay  out  of  the  public  stock,  so,  it  being  his  desire  and 
design  that  the  undisciplined  mechanic  multitude  that 
stayed  at  home  should  not  go  without  their  share  of  public 
salaries,  and  yet  should  not  have  them  given  them  for 
sitting  still  and  doing  nothing,  to  that  end  he  thought 
fit  to  bring  in  among  them,  with  the  approbation  of  the 
people,  these  vast  projects  of  buildings  and  designs  of 
works,  that  would  be  of  some  continuance  before  they 
were  finished,  and  would  give  employment  to  numerous 
arts,  so  that  the  part  of  the  people  that  stayed  at  home 
might,  no  less  than  those  that  were  at  sea  or  in  garri- 
sons or  on  expeditions,  have  a  fair  and  just  occasion  of 
receiving  the  benefit  and  having  their  share  of  the  pub- 
lic moneys. 


336  PERICLES. 

The  materials  were  stone,  brass,  ivory,  gold,  ebony, 
cypress-wood ;  and  the  arts  or  trades  that  wrought  and 
fashioned  them  were  smiths  and  carpenters,  moulders, 
founders  and  braziers,  stone-cutters,  dyers,  goldsmiths, 
ivory-workers,  painters,  embroiderers,  turners ;  those 
again  that  conveyed  them  to  the  town  for  use,  mer- 
chants and  mariners  and  ship-masters  by  sea,  and  by 
land,  cartwrights,  cattle-breeders,  waggoners,  rope-makers, 
flax-workers,  shoe-makers  and  leather-dressers,  road- 
makers,  miners.  And  every  trade  in  the  same  nature, 
as  a  captain  in  an  anny  has  his  particular  company  of 
soldiers  under  him,  had  its  own  hired  company  of  jour- 
neymen and  laborers  belonging  to  it  banded  together 
as  in  array,  to  be  as  it  were  the  instrument  and  body 
for  the  performance  of  the  service.  Thus,  to  say  all  in 
a  word,  the  occasions  and  services  of  these  public  works 
distributed  plenty  through  every  age  and  condition. 

As  then  grew  the  works  up,  no  less  stately  in  size  than 
exquisite  in  form,  the  workmen  striving  to  outvie  the 
material  and  the  design  with  the  beauty  of  their  work- 
manship, yet  the  most  wonderful  thing  of  all  was  the 
rapidity  of  their  execution.  Undertakings,  any  one  of 
which  singly  might  have  required,  they  thought,  for 
their  completion,  several  successions  and  ages  of  men, 
were  every  one  of  them  accomplished  in  the  height  and 
prime  of  one  man's  political  service.  Although  they  say, 
too,  that  Zeuxis  once,  having  heard  Agatharchus  the  pain- 
ter boast  of  despatching  his  work  with  speed  and  ease, 
replied,  "I  take  a  long  time."  For  ease  and  speed  in 
doing  a  thing  do  not  give  the  work  lasting  solidity  or 
exactness  of  beauty ;  the  expenditure  of  time  allowed  to 
a  man's  pains  beforehand  for  the  production  of  a  thing  is 
repaid  by  way  of  interest  with  a  vital  force  for  its  pre- 
servation when  once  produced.  For  which  reason  Peri- 
cles's  works  are  especially  admired,  as  having  been  made 


PERICLES.  337 

quickly,  to  last  long.  For  every  particular  piece  of  hie 
work  was  inimed lately,  even  at  that  time,  for  its  beauty 
and  elegance,  antique ;  and  yet  in  its  vigor  and  freshness 
looks  to  this  day  as  if  it  were  just  executed.  There  is  a 
sort  of  bloom  of  newness  upon  those  works  of  his,  pre- 
serving them  from  the  touch  of  time,  as  if  they  had  some 
perennial  spirit  and  undying  vitality  mingled  in  the  com- 
position of  them. 

Phidias  had  the  oversight  of  all  the  works,  and  was 
surveyor-general,  though  upon  the  various  portions  other 
great  masters  and  workmen  were  employed.  For  Calli- 
crates  and  Ictinus  built  the  Parthenon;  the  chapel  at 
Eleusis,  where  the  mysteries  were  celebrated,  was  begun 
by  Coroebus,  who  erected  the  pillars  that  stand  upon  the 
jQioor  or  pavement,  and  joined  them  to  the  architraves ; 
and  after  his  death  Metagenes  of  Xypete  added  the  frieze 
and  the  upper  line  of  columns;  Xenocles  of  Cholargus 
roofed  or  arched  the  lantern  on  the  top  of  the  temple  of 
Castor  and  Pollux ;  and  the  long  wall,  which  Socrates  says 
he  himself  heard  Pericles  propose  to  the  people,  was  un- 
dertaken by  Callicrates.  This  work  Cratinus  ridicules,  as 
long  in  finishing,  — 


*T  is  long  since  Pericles,  if  words  would  do  it, 
Talk'd  up  the  wall ;  yet  adds  not  one  mite  to  it. 


The  Odeum,  or  music-room,  which  in  its  interior  was 
full  of  seats  and  ranges  of  pillars,  and  outside  had  its  roof 
made  to  slope  and  descend  from  one  single  point  at  the 
top,  was  constructed,  we  are  told,  in  imitation  of  the  king 
of  Persia's  Pavilion;  this  likewise  by  Pericles's  order; 
which  Cratinus  again,  in  his  comedy  called  The  Thracian 
Women,  made  an  occasion  of  raillery,  — 

VOL.  I.  22 


338  PERICLES. 

So,  we  see  here, 

Jupiter  Long-pate  Pericles  appear, 

Since  ostracism  time,  he 's  laid  aside  his  head, 

And  wears  the  new  Odeum  in  its  stead. 

Pencles,  also,  eager  for  distinction,  then  first  obtained 
the  decree  for  a  contest  in  musical  skill  to  be  held  yearly 
at  the  Panathenaea,  and  he  himself,  being  chosen  judge, 
arranged  the  order  and  method  in  which  the  competitors 
should  sing  and  play  on  the  flute  and  on  the  harp.  And 
both  at  that  time,  and  at  other  times  also,  they  sat  in  this 
music-room  to  see  and  hear  all  such  trials  of  skill. 

The  propylaaa,  or  entrances  to  the  Acropolis,  were  fin- 
ished in  five  years'  time,  Mnesicles  being  the  principal 
architect.  A  strange  accident  happened  in  the  course  of 
building,  which  showed  that  the  goddess  was  not  averse 
to  the  work,  but  was  aiding  and  cooperating  to  bring  it 
to  perfection.  One  of  the  artificers,  the  quickest  and  the 
handiest  workman  among  them  all,  with  a  slip  of  his  foot 
fell  down  from  a  great  height,  and  lay  in  a  miserable  con- 
dition, the  physicians  having  no  hopes  of  his  recovery. 
When  Pericles  was  in  distress  about  this,  Minerva  ap- 
peared to  him  at  night  in  a  dream,  and  ordered  a  course 
of  treatment,  which  he  applied,  and  in  a  short  time  and 
with  great  ease  cured  the  man.  And  upon  this  occasion 
it  was  that  he  set  up  a  brass  statue  of  Minerva,  surnamed 
Health,  in  the  citadel  near  the  altar,  which  they  say  was 
there  before.  But  it  was  Phidias  who  wrought  the  god- 
dess's image  in  gold,  and  he  has  his  name  inscribed  on  the 
pedestal  as  the  workman  of  it;  and  indeed  the  whole 
work  in  a  manner  was  under  his  charge,  and  he  had,  as 
we  have  said  already,  the  oversight  over  all  the  artists 
and  workmen,  through  Pericles's  friendship  for  him  ;  and 
this,  indeed,  made  him  much  envied,  and  his  patron  shame- 
fully slandered  with  stories,  as  if  Phidias  were   in  the 


PERICLES.  339 

habit  of  receiving,  for  Pericles's  use,  freeborn  women  that 
came  to  see  the  works.  The  comic  writers  of  the  town, 
when  they  had  got  hold  of  this  story,  made  much  of  it, 
and  bespattered  him  with  all  the  ribaldry  they  could 
invent,  charging  him  falsely  with  the  wife  of  Menippus, 
one  who  was  his  friend  and  served  as  lieutenant  under 
him  in  the  wars ;  and  with  the  birds  kept  by  Pyrilampes, 
an  acquaintance  of  Pericles,  w^ho,  they  pretended,  used  to 
give  presents  of  peacocks  to  Pericles's  female  friends. 
And  how  can  one  wonder  at  any  number  of  strange 
assertions  from  men  whose  whole  lives  were  devoted  to 
mockery,  and  who  were  ready  at  any  time  to  sacrifice  the 
reputation  of  their  superiors  to  vulgar  envy  and  spite,  as 
to  some  evil  genius,  when  even  Stesimbrotus  the  Thasian 
has  dared  to  lay  to  the  charge  of  Pericles  a  monstrous  and 
fabulous  piece  of  criminality  with  his  son's  wife  ?  So  very 
difficult  a  matter  is  it  to  trace  and  find  out  the  truth  of  any 
thing  by  history,  when,  on  the  one  hand,  those  who  after- 
wards write  it  find  long  periods  of  time  intercepting  their 
view,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  contemporary  records  of 
any  actions  and  lives,  partly  through  envy  and  ill-will, 
partly  through  favor  and  flattery,  pervert  and  distort 
truth. 

When  the  orators,  who  sided  with  Thucydides  and  his 
party,  were  at  one  time  crying  out,  as  their  custom  was, 
against  Pericles,  as  one  who  squandered  away  the  public 
money,  and  made  havoc  of  the  state  revenues,  he  rose  in 
the  open  assembly  and  put  the  question  to  the  people, 
whether  they  thought  that  he  had  laid  out  much ;  and 
they  saying,  "  Too  much,  a  great  deal,"  "  Then,"  said  he, 
"  since  it  is  so,  let  the  cost  not  go  to  your  account,  but  to 
mine ;  and  let  the  inscription  upon  the  buildings  stand  in 
my  name."  When  they  heard  him  say  thus,  whether  it 
were  out  of  a  surprise  to  see  the  greatness  of  his  spirit. 
or  out  of  emulation  of  the  glory  of  the  works,  they  cried 


340  PERICLES. 

aloud,  bidding  him  to  spend  on,  and  lay  out  what  he 
thought  fit  from  the  public  purse,  and  to  spare  no  cost, 
till  all  were  finished. 

At  length,  coming  to  a  final  contest  with  Thucydides, 
which  of  the  two  should  ostracize  the  other  out  of  the 
country,  and  having  gone  through  this  peril,  he  threw 
his  antagonist  out,  and  broke  up  the  confederacy  that 
had  been  organized  against  him.  So  that  now  all  schism 
and  division  being  at  an  end,  and  the  city  brought  to 
evenness  and  unity,  he  got  all  Athens  and  all  affairs 
that  pertained  to  the  Athenians  into  his  own  hands, 
their  tributes,  their  armies,  and  their  galleys,  the  islands, 
the  sea,  and  their  wide-extended  power,  partly  over 
other  Greeks  and  partly  over  barbarians,  and  all 
that  empire,  which  they  possessed,  founded  and  fortified 
upon  subject  nations  and  royal  friendships  and  alli- 
ances. 

After  this  he  was  no  longer  the  same  man  he  had  been 
before,  nor  as  tame  and  gentle  and  familiar  as  formerly  with 
the  populace,  so  as  readily  to  yield  to  their  pleasures  and 
to  comply  with  the  desires  of  the  multitude,  as  a  steersman 
shifts  with  the  winds.  Quitting  that  loose,  remiss,  and,  in 
some  cases,  licentious  court  of  the  popular  will,  he  turned 
those  soft  and  flowery  modulations  to  the  austerity  of 
aristocratical  and  regal  rule ;  and  employing  this  uprightly 
and  undeviatingly  for  the  country's  best  interests,  he  was 
able  generally  to  lead  the  people  along,  with  their  own 
wills  and  consents,  by  persuading  and  showing  them  what 
was  to  be  done ;  and  sometimes,  too,  urging  and  pressing 
them  forward  extremely  against  their  will,  he  made  them, 
whether  they  would  or  no,  yield  submission  to  what  was 
for  their  advantage.  In  which,  to  say  the  truth,  he  did 
but  like  a  skilful  physician,  who,  in  a  complicated  and 
chronic  disease,  as  he  sees  occasion,  at  one  while  allows 
his  patient  the  moderate  use  of  such  things  as  please  him, 


PERICLES.  341 

at  another  while  gives  him  keen  pams  and  drugs  to  work 
the  cure.  For  there  arising  and  growing  up,  as  was  nat- 
ural, all  manner  of  distempered  feelings  among  a  people 
which  had  so  vast  a  command  and  dominion,  he  alone,  as 
a  great  master,  knowing  how  to  handle  and  deal  fitly  with 
each  one  of  them,  and,  in  an  especial  manner,  making  that 
use  of  hopes  and  fears,  as  his  two  chief  rudders,  with  the 
one  to  check  the  career  of  their  confidence  at  any  time, 
with  the  other  to  raise  them  up  and  cheer  them  when 
under  any  discouragement,  plainly  showed  by  this,  that 
rhetoric,  or  the  art  of  speaking,  is,  in  Plato's  language,  the 
government  of  the  souls  of  men,  and  that  her  chief  busi- 
ness is  to  address  the  affections  and  passions,  which  are  as 
it  were  the  strings  and  keys  to  the  soul,  and  require  a 
skilful  and  careful  touch  to  be  played  on  as  they  should 
be.  The  source  of  this  predominance  was  not  barely  his 
power  of  language,  but,  as  Thucydides  assures  us,  the  rep- 
utation of  his  life,  and  the  confidence  felt  in  his  character ; 
his  manifest  freedom  from  every  kind  of  corruption,  and 
superiority  to  all  considerations  of  money.  Notwithstand- 
ing he  had  made  the  city  Athens,  which  was  great  of  itself, 
as  great  and  rich  as  can  be  imagined,  and  though  he  were 
himself  in  power  and  interest  more  than  equal  to  many 
kings  and  absolute  rulers,  who  some  of  them  also  be- 
queathed by  will  their  power  to  their  children,  he,  for  his 
part,  did  not  make  the  patrimony  his  father  left  him 
greater  than  it  was  by  one  drachma. 

Thucydides,  indeed,  gives  a  plain  statement  of  the  great- 
ness of  his  power ;  and  the  comic  poets,  in  their  spiteful 
manner,  more  than  hint  at  it,  styling  his  companions  and 
friends  the  new  Pisistratidte,  and  calling  on  him  to  abjure 
any  intention  of  usurpation,  as  one  whose  eminence  was 
too  great  to  be  any  longer  proportionable  to  and  com- 
patible with  a  democracy  or  popular  government.     And 


342  PERICLES. 

Teleclides   says  the  Athenians   had   surrendered   up   to 
him  — 

The  tribute  of  the  cities,  and  with  them,  the  cities  too,  to  do  with  them 

as  he  pleases,  and  undo  ; 
To  build  up,  if  he  likes,  stone  walls  around  a  town ;  and  again,  if  so  he 

likes,  to  pull  them  down ; 
Their  treaties  and  alliances,  power,  empire,  peace,  and  war,  their  wealth 

and  their  success  forevermore. 

Nor  was  all  this  the  luck  of  some  happy  occasion ;  nor 
was  it  the  mere  bloom  and  grace  of  a  policy  that  flourished 
for  a  season ;  but  having  for  forty  years  together  main- 
tained the  first  place  among  statesmen  such  as  Ephialtes 
and  Leocrates  and  Myronides  and  Cimon  and  Tolmides 
and  Thucydides  were,  after  the  defeat  and  banishment 
of  Thucydides,  for  no  less  than  fifteen  years  longer,  in  the 
exercise  of  one  continuous  unintermitted  command  in  the 
ofiice,  to  which  he  was  annually  reelected,  of  General,  he 
preserved  his  integrity  unspotted;  though  otherwise  he 
was  not  altogether  idle  or  careless  in  looking  after  his 
pecuniary  advantage ;  his  paternal  estate,  which  of  right 
belonged  to  him,  he  so  ordered  that  it  might  neither 
through  negligence  be  wasted  or  lessened,  nor  yet, 
being  so  full  of  business  as  he  was,  cost  him  any  great 
trouble  or  time  with  taking  care  of  it ;  and  put  it  into  such 
a  way  of  management  as  he  thought  to  be  the  most  easy 
for  himself,  and  the  most  exact.  All  his  yearly  products 
and  profits  he  sold  together  in  a  lump,  and  supplied  his 
household  needs  afterward  by  buying  every  thing  that 
he  or  his  family  wanted  out  of  the  market.  Upon  which 
account,  his  children,  when  they  grew  to  age,  were  not 
well  pleased  with  his  management,  and  the  women  that 
lived  with  him  were  treated  with  little  cost,  and  com- 
plained of  this  way  of  housekeeping,  where  every  thing 


PERICLES.  343 

was  ordered  and  set  down  from  day  to  day,  and  reduced 
to  the  greatest  exactness ;  since  there  was  not  there,  as 
is  usual  in  a  great  family  and  a  plentiful  estate,  any  thing 
to  spare,  or  over  and  above;  but  all  that  went  out  or 
came  in,  all  disbursements  and  all  receipts,  proceeded  as  it 
were  by  number  and  measure.  His  manager  in  all  this 
was  a  single  servant,  Evangelus  by  name,  a  man  either 
naturally  gifted  or  instructed  by  Pericles  so  as  to  excel 
every  one  in  this  art  of  domestic  economy. 

All  this,  in  truth,  was  very  little  in  harmony  with 
Anaxagoras's  wisdom ;  if,  indeed,  it  be  true  that  he,  by  a 
kind  of  divine  impulse  and  greatness  of  spirit,  voluntarily 
quitted  his  house,  and  left  his  land  to  lie  fallow  and  to  be 
grazed  by  sheep  like  a  common.  But  the  life  of  a  contem- 
plative philosopher  and  that  of  an  active  statesman  are,  I 
presume,  not  the  same  thing ;  for  the  one  merely  employs, 
upon  great  and  good  objects  of  thought,  an  intelligence 
that  requires  no  aid  of  instruments  nor  supply  of  any 
external  materials ;  whereas  the  other,  who  tempers  and 
applies  his  virtue  to  human  uses,  may  have  occasion  for 
affluence,  not  as  a  matter  of  mere  necessity,  but  as  a 
noble  thing  ;  which  was  Pericles's  case,  who  relieved  nu- 
merous poor  citizens. 

However,  there  is  a  story,  that  Anaxagoras  himself, 
while  Pericles  was  taken  up  with  public  affairs,  lay  neg- 
lected, and  that,  now  being  grown  old,  he  wrapped  him- 
self up  with  a  resolution  to  die  for  want  of  food  ;  which 
being  by  chance  brought  to  Pericles's  ear,  he  was  horror- 
struck,  and  instantly  ran  thither,  and  used  all  the  argu- 
ments and  entreaties  he  could  to  him,  lamenting  not  so 
much  Anaxagoras's  condition  as  his  own,  should  he  lose 
such  a  counsellor  as  he  had  found  him  to  be ;  and  that^ 
upon  this,  Anaxagoras  unfolded  his  robe,  and  showing 
himself,  made  answer :  "  Pericles,"  said  he,  "  even  those 
who  have  occasion  for  a  lamp  supply  it  with  oil." 


344  PERICLES. 

The  Lacedaemonians  beginning  to  show  themselves 
troubled  at  the  growth  of  the  Athenian  power,  Pericles, 
on  the  other  hand,  to  elevate  the  people's  spirit  yet  more, 
and  to  raise  them  to  the  thought  of  great  actions,  pro- 
posed a  decree,  to  summon  all  the  Greeks  in  what  part 
soever,  whether  of  Europe  or  Asia,  every  city,  little  as  well 
as  great,  to  send  their  deputies  to  Athens  to  a  general  as- 
sembly, or  convention,  there  to  consult  and  advise  con- 
cerning the  Greek  temples  which  the  barbarians  had  burnt 
down,  and  the  sacrifices  which  were  due  from  them  upon 
vows  they  had  made  to  their  gods  for  the  safety  of 
Greece  when  they  fought  against  the  barbarians ;  and 
also  concerning  the  navigation  of  the  sea,  that  they  might 
henceforward  all  of  them  pass  to  and  fro  and  trade 
securely,  and  be  at  peace  among  themselves. 

Upon  this  errand,  there  were  twenty  men,  of  such  as 
were  above  fifty  years  of  age,  sent  by  commission ;  five 
to  summon  the  lonians  and  Dorians  in  Asia,  and  the 
islanders  as  far  as  Lesbos  and  Rhodes ;  five  to  visit  all  the 
places  in  the  Hellespont  and  Thrace,  up  to  Byzantium  ; 
and  other  five  besides  these  to  go  to  Boeotia  and  Phocis 
and  Peloponnesus,  and  from  hence  to  pass  through  the 
Locrians  over  to  the  neighboring  continent,  as  far  as 
Acarnania  and  Ambracia;  and  the  rest  to  take  their 
course  through  Euboea  to  the  CEtaaans  and  the  Malian 
Gulf,  and  to  the  Achaeans  of  Phthiotis  and  the  Thessalians ; 
all  of  them  to  treat  with  the  people  as  they  passed,  and  to 
persuade  them  to  come  and  take  their  part  in  the  de- 
bates for  settling  the  peace  and  jointly  regulating  the 
afiairs  of  Greece. 

Nothing  was  effected,  nor  did  the  cities  meet  by  their 
deputies,  as  was  desired;  the  Lacedaemonians,  as  it  is 
said,  crossing  the  design  underhand,  and  the  attempt  be- 
ing disappointed  and  baflBied  first  in  Peloponnesus.  I 
thought  fit,  however,  to  introduce  the  mention  of  it,  to 


PERICLES.  345 

show  the  spirit  of  the  man  and  the  greatness  of  his 
thoughts. 

In  his  military  conduct,  he  gained  a  great  reputation 
for  wariness ;  he  would  not  by  his  good-will  engage  in 
any  fight  which  had  much  uncertainty  or  hazard  ;  he  did 
not  envy  the  glory  of  generals  whose  rash  adventures 
fortune  favored  with  brilliant  success,  however  they  were 
admired  by  others;  nor  did  he  think  them  worthy  his 
imitation,  but  always  used  to  say  to  his  citizens  that,  so 
far  as  lay  in  his  power,  they  should  continue  immortal, 
and  live  forever.  Seeing  Tolmides,  the  son  of  Tolmseus, 
upon  the  confidence  of  his  former  successes,  and  flushed 
with  the  honor  his  military  actions  had  procured  him, 
making  preparation  to  attack  the  Boeotians  in  their  own 
country,  when  there  was  no  likely  opportunity,  and  that 
he  had  prevailed  with  the  bravest  and  most  enterprising 
of  the  youth  to  enlist  themselves  as  volunteers  in  the  ser- 
vice, who  besides  his  other  force  made  up  a  thousand,  he 
endeavored  to  withhold  him  and  to  advise  him  from  it  in 
the  public  assembly,  telling  him  in  a  memorable  saying  of 
his,  which  still  goes  about,  that,  if  he  would  not  take  Peri- 
cles's  advice,  yet  he  would  not  do  amiss  to  wait  and  be 
ruled  by  time,  the  wisest  counsellor  of  all.  This  saying, 
at  that  time,  was  but  slightly  commended ;  but  within  a 
few  days  after,  when  news  was  brought  that  Tolmides 
himself  had  been  defeated  and  slain  in  battle  near  Coronea, 
and  that  many  brave  citizens  had  fallen  with  him,  it 
gained  him  great  repute  as  well  as  good-will  among  the 
people,  for  wisdom  and  for  love  of  his  countrymen. 

But  of  all  his  expeditions,  that  to  the  Chersonese  gave 
most  satisfaction  and  pleasure,  having  proved  the  safety 
of  the  Greeks  who  inhabited  there.  For  not  only  by  car- 
rjdng  along  with  him  a  thousand  fresh  citizens  of  Athena 
he  gave  new  strength  and  vigor  to  the  cities,  but  also  by 
belting  the  neck  of  land,  which  joins  the  peninsula  to  the 


346  PERICLES. 

continent,  with  bulwarks  and  forts  from  sea  to  sea,  he  put 
a  stop  to  the  inroads  of  the  Thracians,  who  lay  all  about 
the  Chersonese,  and  closed  the  door  against  a  continual 
and  grievous  war,  with  which  that  country  had  been 
long  harassed,  lying  exposed  to  the  encroachments  and 
influx  of  barbarous  neighbors,  and  groaning  under  the 
evils  of  a  predatory  population  both  upon  and  within  its 
borders. 

Nor  was  he  less  admired  and  talked  of  abroad  for  his 
sailing  round  the  Peloponnesus,  having  set  out  from  Pegae, 
or  The  Fountains,  the  port  of  Megara,  with  a  hundred  gal- 
leys. For  he  not  only  laid  waste  the  sea-coast,  as  Tol- 
mides  had  done  before,  but  also,  advancing  far  up  into 
main  land  with  the  soldiers  he  had  on  board,  by  the 
terror  of  his  appearance  drove  many  within  their  walls ; 
and  at  Nemea,  with  main  force,  routed  and  raised  a  trophy 
over  the  Sicyonians,  who  stood  their  ground  and  joined 
battle  with  him.  And  having  taken  on  board  a  supply 
of  soldiers  into  the  galleys,  out  of  Achaia,  then  in  league 
with  Athen?  he  crossed  with  the  fleet  to  the  opposite 
continent,  and,  sailing  along  by  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Achelous,  overran  Acarnania,  and  shut  up  the  CEniadas 
within  their  city  walls,  and  having  ravaged  and  wasted 
their  country,  weighed  anchor  for  home  with  the  double 
advantage  of  having  shown  himself  formidable  to  his 
enemies,  and  at  the  same  time  safe  and  energetic  to  his 
fellow-citizens ;  for  there  was  not  so  much  as  any  chance- 
miscarriage  that  happened,  the  whole  voyage  through, 
to  those  who  were  under  his  charge. 

Entering  also  the  Euxine  Sea  with  a  large  and  finely 
equipped  fleet,  he  obtained  for  the  Greek  cities  any  new 
arrangements  they  wanted,  and  entered  into  friendly  re- 
lations  with  them;  and  to  the  barbarous  nations,  and 
kings  and  chiefs  round  about  them,  displayed  the  greatness 
of  the  power  of  the  Athenians,  their  perfect  ability  and  con- 


PERICLES.  347 

fidence  to  sail  wherever  they  had  a  mind,  and  to  bring 
the  whole  sea  under  their  control.  He  left  the  Sinopians 
thirteen  ships  of  war,  with  soldiers  under  the  command 
of  Lamachus,  to  assist  them  against  Timesileus  the  tyrant ; 
and  when  he  and  his  accomplices  had  been  thrown  out, 
obtained  a  decree  that  six  hundred  of  the  Athenians  that 
were  willing  should  sail  to  Sinope  and  plant  themselves 
there  with  the  Sinopians,  sharing  among  them  the  houses 
and  land  which  the  tyrant  and  his  party  had  previously 
held. 

But  in  other  things  he  did  not  comply  with  the  giddy 
impulses  of  the  citizens,  nor  quit  his  own  resolutions  to 
follow  their  fancies,  when,  carried  away  with  the  thought 
of  their  strength  and  great  success,  they  were  eager  to 
interfere  again  in  Egypt,  and  to  disturb  the  king  of  Per- 
sia's maritime  dominions.  Nay,  there  were  a  good  many 
who  were,  even  then,  possessed  with  that  unblest  and 
inauspicious  passion  for  Sicily,  which  afterward  the  ora- 
tors of  Alcibiades's  party  blew  up  into  a  flame.  There 
were  some  also  who  dreamt  of  Tuscany  and  of  Carthage, 
and  not  without  plausible  reason  in  their  present  large 
dominion  and  the  prosperous  course  of  their  affairs. 

But  Pericles  curbed  this  passion  for  foreign  conquest, 
and  unsparingly  pruned  and  cut  down  their  ever  busy 
fancies  for  a  multitude  of  undertakings;  and  directed 
their  power  for  the  most  part  to  securing  and  consolida- 
ting what  they  had  already  got,  supposing  it  would  be 
quite  enough  for  them  to  do,  if  they  could  keep  the  La- 
cedaemonians in  check;  to  whom  he  entertained  all  along 
a  sense  of  opposition ;  which,  as  upon  many  other  occa- 
sions, so  he  particularly  showed  by  what  he  did  in  the 
time  of  the  holy  war.  The  Lacedaemonians,  having  gone 
with  an  army  to  Delphi,  restored  Apollo's  temple,  which 
the  Phocians  had  got  into  their  possession,  to  the  Del- 
phians ;  immediately  after  their  departure,  Pericles,  with 


348  PERICLES. 

another  army,  came  and  restored  the  Phocians.  x\nd  the 
Lacedasmonians  having  engraven  the  record  of  their  pri- 
vilege of  consulting  the  oracle  before  others,  which  the 
Delphians  gave  them,  upon  the  forehead  of  the  brazen 
wolf  which  stands  there,  he,  also,  having  received  from 
the  Phocians  the  like  privilege  for  the  Athenians,  had  it 
cut  upon  the  same  wolf  of  brass  on  his  right  side. 

That  he  did  well  and  wisely  in  thus  restraining  the  ex- 
ertions of  the  Athenians  within  the  compass  of  Greece,  the 
events  themselves  that  happened  afterward  bore  suffi- 
cient witness.  For,  in  the  first  place,  the  Euboeans  re- 
volted, against  whom  he  passed  over  with  forces;  and 
then,  immediately  after,  news  came  that  the  Megarians 
were  turned  their  enemies,  and  a  hostile  army  was  upon 
the  borders  of  Attica,  under  the  conduct  of  Plistoanax, 
king  of  the  Lacedaemonians.  Wherefore  Pericles  came 
with  his  army  back  again  in  all  haste  out  of  Euboea,  to 
meet  the  war  which  threatened  at  home ;  and  did  not 
venture  to  engage  a  numerous  and  brave  army  eager  for 
battle  ;  but  perceiving  that  Plistoanax  was  a  very  young 
man,  and  governed  himself  mostly  by  the  counsel  and 
advice  of  Cieandrides,  whom  the  ephors  had  sent  with 
him,  by  reason  of  his  youth,  to  be  a  kind  of  guardian  and 
assistant  to  him,  he  privately  made  trial  of  this  man's 
integrity,  and,  in  a  short  time,  having  corrupted  him  with 
money,  prevailed  with  him  to  withdraw  the  Peloponnesians 
out  of  Attica.  When  the  army  had  retired  and  dispersed 
into  their  several  states,  the  Lacedaemonians  in  anger 
fined  their  king  in  so  large  a  sum  of  money,  that,  unable 
to  pay  it,  he  quitted  Lacedsemon ;  while  Cieandrides  fled, 
and  had  sentence  of  death  passed  upon  him  in  his  ab- 
sence. This  was  the  father  of  Gylippus,  who  overpowered 
the  Athenians  in  Sicily.  And  it  seems  that  this  covet- 
ousness  was  an  hereditary  disease  transmitted  from  father 
to  son ;  for  Gylippus  also  afterwards  was  caught  in  foul 


Aspas'id  of  MUetu.s. 

From  a  sculplure  in  the,  i'dticnn  Miiseinii,  Hnrnt. 


PERICLES.  349 

practices,  and  expelled  from  Sparta  for  it.  But  this  we 
have  told  at  large  in  the  account  of  Lysander. 

When  Pericles,  in  giving  up  his  accounts  of  tliis  expe- 
dition, stated  a  disbursement  of  ten  talents,  as  laid  out 
upon  fit  occasion,  the  people,  without  any  question,  nor 
troubling  themselves  to  investigate  the  mystery,  freely 
allowed  of  it.  And  some  historians,  in  which  number  is 
Theophrastus  the  philosopher,  have  given  it  as  a  truth 
that  Pericles  every  year  used  to  send  privately  the  sum 
of  ten  talents  to  Sparta,  with  which  he  complimented 
those  in  office,  to  keep  off"  the  war ;  not  to  purchase  peace 
neither,  but  time,  that  he  might  prepare  at  leisure,  and 
be  the  better  able  to  carry  on  war  hereafter. 

Immediately  after  this,  turning  his  forces  against  the 
revolters,  and  passing  over  into  the  island  of  Euboea  with 
fifty  sail  of  ships  and  five  thousand  men  in  arms,  he  reduced 
their  cities,  and  drove  out  the  citizens  of  the  Chalcidians, 
called  Hippobotae,  horse-feeders,  the  chief  persons  for 
wealth  and  reputation  among  them ;  and  removing  all 
the  Histiaeans  out  of  the  country,  brought  in  a  plantation 
of  Athenians  in  their  room  ;  making  them  his  one  exam- 
ple of  severity,  because  they  had  captured  an  Attic  ship 
and  killed  all  on  board. 

After  this,  having  made  a  truce  between  the  Athenians 
and  Lacedaemonians  for  thirty  years,  he  ordered,  by  pub- 
lic decree,  the  expedition  against  the  Isle  of  Samos,  on 
the  ground,  that,  when  they  were  bid  to  leave  off"  their 
war  with  the  Milesians,  they  had  not  complied.  And  as 
these  measures  against  the  Samians  are  thought  to  have 
been  taken  to  please  Aspasia,  this  may  be  a  fit  point  for  in- 
quiry about  the  woman,  what  art  or  charming  faculty  she 
had  that  enabled  her  to  captivate,  as  she  did,  the  greatest 
statesmen,  and  to  give  the  philosophers  occasion  to  speak 
60  much  about  her,  and  that,  too,  not  to  her  disparage- 
ment.    That  she  was  a  Milesian  by  birth,  the  daughter 


350  PERICLES. 

of  Axiochus,  is  a  thing  acknowledged.  And  they  say  it 
'was  in  emulation  of  Thargelia,  a  courtesan  of  the  old 
Ionian  times,  that  she  made  her  addresses  to  men  of  great 
power.  Thargelia  was  a  great  beauty,  extremely  charm- 
ing, and  at  the  same  time  sagacious ;  she  had  numerous 
suitors  among  the  Greeks,  and  brought  all  who  had  to  do 
with  her  over  to  the  Persian  interest,  and  by  their  means, 
being  men  of  the  greatest  power  and  station,  sowed  the 
seeds  of  the  Median  faction  up  and  down  in  several  cities.* 
Aspasia,  some  say,  was  courted  and  caressed  by  Pericles 
upon  account  of  her  knowledge  and  skill  in  politics, 
Socrates  himself  would  sometimes  go  to  visit  her,  and 
some  of  his  acquaintance  with  him ;  and  those  who  fre- 
quented her  company  would  carry  their  wives  with  them 
to  listen  to  her.  Her  occupation  was  any  thing  but  cred- 
itable, her  house  being  a  home  for  young  courtesans, 
^schines  tells  us  also,  that  Lysicles,  a  sheep-dealer,  a 
man  of  low  birth  and  character,  by  keeping  Aspasia  com- 
pany after  Pericles's  death,  came  to  be  a  chief  man  in 
Athens.  And  in  Plato's  Menexenus,  though  we  do  not 
take  the  introduction  as  quite  serious,  still  thus  much 
seems  to  be  historical,  that  she  had  the  repute  of  being 
resorted  to  by  many  of  the  Athenians  for  instruction  in 
the  art  of  speaking.  Pericles's  inclination  for  her  seems, 
however,  to  have  rather  proceeded  from  the  passion  of 
love.  He  had  a  wife  that  was  near  of  kin  to  him,  who 
had  been  married  first  to  Hipponicus,  by  whom  she  had 
CalHas,  surnamed  the  Rich ;  and  also  she  brought  Peri- 
cles, while  she  lived  with  him,  two  sons,  Xanthippus  and 
Paralus.  Afterwards,  when  they  did  not  well  agree  nor 
like  to  live  together,  he  parted  with  her,  with  her  own 
consent,  to  another  man,  and  himself  took  Aspasia,  and 


*  She  was  married,  says  Athenseus,  to  fourteen  husbands ;  a  woman 
of  great  beauty  and  intellect. 


PERICLES.  351 

loved  her  with  wonderful  affection;  every  day,  both  aa 
he  went  out  and  as  he  came  in  from  the  marketrplace, 
he  saluted  and  kissed  her. 

In  the  comedies  she  goes  by  the  nicknames  of  the  new 
Omphale  and  Deianira,  and  again  is  styled  Juno.  Crati- 
nus,  in  downright  terms,  calls  her  a  harlot. 

To  find  him  a  Juno  the  goddess  of  lust 
Bore  that  harlot  past  shame, 
Aspasia  by  name. 

It  should  seem,  also,  that  he  had  a  son  by  her ;  Eupolis, 
in  his  Demi,  introduced  Pericles  asking  after  his  safety, 
and  Myronides  replying, 

"  My  son  ?  "    "  He  lives ;  a  man  he  had  been  long, 
But  that  the  harlot-mother  did  him  wrong," 

Aspasia,  they  say,  became  so  celebrated  and  renowned, 
that  Cyrus  also,  who  made  war  against  Artaxerxes  for  the 
Persian  monarchy,  gave  her  whom  he  loved  the  best  of 
all  his  concubines  the  name  of  Aspasia,  who  before  that 
was  called  Milto.  She  was  a  Phocaean  by  birth,  the 
daughter  of  one  Hermotimus,  and,  when  Cyrus  fell  in 
battle,  was  carried  to  the  king,  and  had  great  influence  at 
court.  These  things  coming  into  my  memory  as  I  am 
writing  this  story,  it  would  be  unnatural  for  me  to  omit 
them. 

Pericles,  however,  was  particularly  charged  with  having 
proposed  to  the  assembly  the  war  against  the  Samians, 
from  favor  to  the  Milesians,  upon  the  entreaty  of  Aspasia. 
For  the  two  states  were  at  war  for  the  possession  of 
Priene ;  and  the  Samians,  getting  the  better,  refused  to 
lay  down  their  arms  and  to  have  the  controversy  betwixt 
them  decided  by  arbitration  before  the  Athenians.  Peri- 
cles, therefore,  fitting  out  a  fleet,  went  and   broke   up 


352  PERICLES. 

the  oligarchical  government  at  Samos,  and,  taking  fifty  of 
the  principal  men  of  the  town  as  hostages,  and  as  many 
of  their  children,  sent  them  to  the  isle  of  Lemnos,  there 
to  be  kept,  though  he  had  offers,  as  some  relate,  of  a 
talent  a  piece  for  himself  from  each  one  of  the  hostages, 
and  of  many  other  presents  from  those  who  were  anxious 
not  to  have  a  democracy.  Moreover,  Pissuthnes  the  Per- 
sian, one  of  the  king's  lieutenants,  bearing  some  good-will 
to  the  Samians,  sent  him  ten  thousand  pieces  of  gold  to 
excuse  the  city.  Pericles,  however,  would  receive  none  of 
all  this ;  but  after  he  had  taken  that  course  with  the 
Samians  which  he  thought  fit,  and  set  up  a  democracy 
among  them,  sailed  back  to  Athens. 

But  they,  however,  immediately  revolted,  Pissuthnes 
having  privily  got  away  their  hostages  for  them,  and  pro- 
vided them  with  means  for  the  war.  Whereupon  Pericles 
came  out  with  a  fleet  a  second  time  against  them,  and 
found  them  not  idle  nor  slinking  away,  but  manfully 
resolved  to  try  for  the  dominion  of  the  sea.  The  issue 
was,  that,  after  a  sharp  sea-fight  about  the  island  called 
Tragia,  Pericles  obtained  a  decisive  victory,  having  with 
forty-four  ships  routed  seventy  of  the  enemy's,  twenty  of 
which  were  carrying  soldiers. 

Together  with  his  victory  and  pursuit,  having  made 
himself  master  of  the  port,  he  laid  siege  to  the  Samians, 
and  blocked  them  up,  who  yet,  one  way  or  other,  still 
ventured  to  make  sallies,  and  fight  under  the  city  walls. 
But  after  that  another  greater  fleet  from  Athens  was 
arrived,  and  that  the  Samians  were  now  shut  up  with  a 
close  leaguer  on  every  side,  Pericles,  taking  with  him 
sixty  galleys,  sailed  out  into  the  main  sea,  with  the  inten- 
tion, as  most  authors  give  the  account,  to  meet  a  squadron 
of  Phoenician  ships  that  were  coming  for  the  Samians' 
relief,  and  to  fight  them  at  as  great  distance  as  could  be 
from  the  island  ;  but,  as  Stesimbrotus  says,  with  a  design 


PERICLES.  353 

of  putting  over  to  Cyprus ;  which  does  not  seem  to  be 
probable.  But  whichever  of  the  two  was  his  intent,  it 
seems  to  have  been  a  miscalculation.  For  on  his  departure, 
Melissus,  the  son  of  Ithagenes,  a  philosopher,  being  at  that 
time  general  in  Samos,  despising  either  the  small  num- 
ber of  the  ships  that  were  left  or  the  inexperience  of  the 
commanders,  prevailed  with  the  citizens  to  attack  the 
Athenians.  And  the  Samians  having  won  the  battle,  and 
taken  several  of  the  men  prisoners,  and  disabled  several 
of  the  ships,  were  masters  of  the  sea,  and  brought  into 
port  ail  necessaries  they  wanted  for  the  war,  which  they 
had  not  before.  Aristotle  says,  too,  that  Pericles  him- 
self had  been  once  before  this  worsted  by  this  Melissua 
in  a  sea-fight. 

The  Saraians,  that  they  might  requite  an  affi^ont  which 
had  before  been  put  upon  them,  branded  the  Athenians, 
whom  they  took  prisoners,  in  their  foreheads,  with  the  fig- 
ure of  an  owl.  For  so  the  Athenians  had  marked  them 
before  with  a  Samaena,  which  is  a  sort  of  ship,  low  and 
flat  in  the  prow,  so  as  to  look  snub-nosed,  but  wide  and 
large  and  well-spread  in  the  hold,  by  which  it  both  carries 
a  large  cargo  and  sails  well.  And  it  was  so  called,  because 
the  first  of  that  kind  was  seen  at  Samos,  having  been 
built  by  order  of  Polycrates  the  tyrant.  These  brands 
upon  the  Samians'  foreheads,  they  say,  are  the  allusion  in 
the  passage  of  Aristophanes,  where  he  says,  — 

For,  oh,  the  Samians  are  a  lettered  people. 

Pericles,  as  soon  as  news  was  brought  him  of  the  disas- 
ter that  had  befallen  his  army,  made  all  the  haste  he 
could  to  come  in  to  their  relief,  and  having  defeated  Me- 
lissus, who  bore  up  against  him,  and  put  the  enemy  to 
flight,  he  immediately  proceeded  to  hem  them  in  with  a 
wall,  resolving  to  master  them  and  take  the  town,  rather 
VOL.  I.  23 


354  PERICLES. 

with  some  cost  and  time,  than  with  the  wounds  and 
hazards  of  his  citizens.  But  as  it  was  a  hard  matter  to 
keep  back  the  Athenians,  who  were  vexed  at  the  delay, 
and  were  eagerly  bent  to  fight,  he  divided  the  whole 
multitude  into  eight  parts,  and  arranged  by  lot  that  that 
part  which  had  the  white  bean  should  have  leave  to  feast 
and  take  their  ease,  while  the  other  seven  were  fighting. 
And  this  is  the  reason,  they  say,  that  people,  when  at  any 
time  they  have  been  merry,  and  enjoyed  themselves,  call 
it  white  day,  in  allusion  to  this  white  bean. 

Ephorus  the  historian  tells  us  besides,  that  Pericles 
made  use  of  engines  of  battery  in  this  siege,  being  much 
taken  with  the  curiousness  of  the  invention,  with  the  aid 
and  presence  of  Artemon  himself,  the  engineer,  who,  being 
lame,  used  to  be  carried  about  in  a  litter,  where  the  works 
required  his  attendance,  and  for  that  reason  was  called 
Periphoretus.  But  Heraclides  Ponticus  disproves  this  out 
of  Anacreon's  poems,  where  mention  is  made  of  this  Ar- 
temon Periphoretus  several  ages  before  the  Samian  war, 
or  any  of  these  occurrences.  And  he  says  that  Artemon, 
being  a  man  who  loved  his  ease,  and  had  a  great  appre- 
hension of  danger,  for  the  most  part  kept  close  within 
doors,  having  two  of  his  servants  to  hold  a  brazen  shield 
over  his  head,  that  nothing  might  fall  upon  him  from 
above ;  and  if  he  were  at  any  time  forced  upon  necessity 
to  go  abroad,  that  he  was  carried  about  in  a  little  hang- 
ing bed,  close  to  the  very  ground,  and  that  for  this  reason 
he  was  called  Periphoretus. 

In  the  ninth  month,  the  Samians  surrendering  them- 
selves and  delivering  up  the  town,  Pericles  pulled  down 
their  walls,  and  seized  their  shipping,  and  set  a  fine  of  a 
large  sum  of  money  upon  them,  part  of  which  they  paid 
down  at  once,  and  they  agreed  to  bring  in  the  rest  by 
a  certain  time,  and  gave  hostages  for  security.  Duris  the 
Samian   makes  a  tragical   drama  out   of  these    events, 


PERICLES.  355 

charging  the  Athenians  and  Pericles  with  a  great  deal  of 
cruelty,  which  neither  Thucydides,  nor  Ephorus,  nor  Ari- 
stotle have  given  any  relation  of,  and  probably  with  little 
regard  to  truth ;  how,  for  example,  he  brought  the  captains 
and  soldiers  of  the  galleys  into  the  market-place  at  Mile- 
tus, and  there  having  bound  them  fast  to  boards  for  ten 
days,  then,  when    they  were  already  all  but  half  dead, 
gave    order   to  have    them  killed  by  beating  out  their 
brains  with  clubs,  and  their  dead  bodies  to  be  flung  out 
into  the  open  streets  and  fields,  unburied.     Duris,  how- 
ever, who  even  where  he  has  no  private  feeling  concerned, 
is   not  wont  to  keep  his  narrative  within  the  limits  of 
truth,  is  the  more  likely  upon  this  occasion  to  have  exag- 
gerated the  calamities  which  befell  his  country,  to  create 
odium   against   the  Athenians.     Pericles,  however,  after 
the  reduction  of  Samos,  returning  back  to  Athens,  took 
care  that  those  who  died  in  the  war  should  be  honorably 
buried,  and  made  a  funeral  harangue,  as  the  custom  is,  in 
their  commendation  at  their  graves,  for  which  he  gained 
great  admiration.     As  he  came  down  from  the  stage  on 
which  he  spoke,  the  rest  of  the  women  came  and  compli- 
mented him,  taking  him  by  the  hand,  and  crowning  him 
with  garlands  and  ribbons,  like  a  victorious   athlete   in 
the   games ;    but   Elpinice,    coming   near   to    him,   said, 
"  These  are  brave  deeds,  Pericles,  that  you  have  done, 
and  such  as  deserve  our  chaplets ;  who  have  lost  us  many 
a  worthy  citizen,  not  in  a  war  with  Phoenicians  or  Medes, 
like  my  brother  Cimon,  but  for  the  overthrow  of  an  allied 
and  kindred  city."     As  Elpinice  spoke  these  words,  he, 
smiling  quietly,  as  it  is  said,  returned  her  answer  with 
this  verse,  — 

Old  women  should  not  seek  to  be  perfumed. 
Ion  says  of  him,  that,  upon  this  exploit  of  his,  conquer- 


356  PERICLES. 

ing  the  Samians,  he  indulged  very  high  and  proud 
thoughts  of  himself:  whereas  Agamemnon  was  ten  years 
a  taking  a  barbarous  city,  he  had  in  nine  months'  time 
vanquished  and  taken  the  greatest  and  most  powerful  of 
the  lonians.  And  indeed  it  was  not  without  reason  that 
he  assumed  this  glory  to  himself,  for,  in  real  truth,  there 
was  much  uncertainty  and  great  hazard  in  this  war,  if  so 
be,  as  Thucydides  tells  us,  the  Samian  state  were  within 
a  very  little  of  wresting  the  whole  power  and  domin- 
ion of  the  sea  out  of  the  Athenians'  hands. 

After  this  was  over,  the  Peloponnesian  war  beginning 
to  break  out  in  full  tide,  he  advised  the  people  to  send 
help  to  the  Corcyraeans,  who  were  attacked  by  the  Co- 
rinthians, and  to  secure  to  themselves  an  island  possessed 
of  great  naval  resources,  since  the  Peloponnesians  were 
already  all  but  in  actual  hostilities  against  them.  The 
people  readily  consenting  to  the  motion,  and  voting  an 
aid  and  succor  for  them,  he  despatched  Lacedsemonius, 
Cimon's  son,  having  only  ten  ships  with  him,  as  it  were 
out  of  a  design  to  affront  him ;  for  there  was  a  great 
kindness  and  friendship  betwixt  Cimon's  family  and  the 
Lacedaemonians ;  so,  in  order  that  Lacedaemonius  might 
lie  the  more  open  to  a  charge,  or  suspicion  at  least,  of 
favoring  the  Lacedsemonians  and  playing  false,  if  he  per- 
formed no  considerable  exploit  in  this  service,  he  allowed 
him  a  small  number  of  ships,  and  sent  him  out  against 
his  will ;  and  indeed  he  made  it  somewhat  his  business  to 
hinder  Cimon's  sons  from  rising  in  the  state,  professing 
that  by  their  very  names  they  were  not  to  be  looked 
upon  as  native  and  true  Athenians,  but  foreigners  and 
strangers,  one  being  called  Lacedsemonius,  another  Thes- 
salus,  and  the  third  Eleus ;  and  they  were  all  three  of 
them,  it  was  thought,  born  of  an  Arcadian  woman.  Be- 
ing, however,  ill  spoken  of  on  account  of  these  ten  gal- 
leys, as  having  afforded  but  a  small  supply  to  the  people 


PERICLES.  357 

that  were  in  need,  and  yet  given  a  great  advantage  to 
those  who  might  complain  of  the  act  of  intervention, 
Pericles  sent  out  a  larger  force  afterward  to  Corcyra, 
which  arrived  after  the  fight  was  over.  And  when  now 
the  Corinthians,  angry  and  indignant  with  the  Athenians, 
accused  them  publicly  at  Lacedoemon,  the  Megarians 
joined  with  them,  complaining  that  they  were,  contrary 
to  common  right  and  the  articles  of  peace  sworn  to 
among  the  Greeks,  kept  out  and  driven  away  from  every 
market  and  from  all  ports  under  the  control  of  the  Athe- 
nians. The  jEginetans,  also,  professing  to  be  ill-used  and 
treated  with  violence,  made  supplications  in  private  to 
the  Lacedaemonians  for  redress,  though  not  daring  openly 
to  call  the  Athenians  in  question.  In  the  mean  time,  also, 
the  city  Potidaea,  under  the  dominion  of  the  Athenians, 
but  a  colony  formerly  of  the  Corinthians,  had  revolted, 
and  was  beset  with  a  formal  siege,  and  was  a  further  oc- 
casion of  precipitating  the  war. 

Yet  notwithstanding  all  this,  there  being  embassies 
sent  to  Athens,  and  Archidamus,  the  king  of  the  Lacedae- 
monians, endeavoring  to  bring  the  greater  part  of  the  com- 
plaints and  matters  in  dispute  to  a  fair  determination,  and 
to  pacify  and  allay  the  heats  of  the  allies,  it  is  very  likely 
that  the  war  would  not  upon  any  other  grounds  of  quarrel 
have  fallen  upon  the  Athenians,  could  they  have  been 
prevailed  with  to  repeal  the  ordinance  against  the  Mega- 
rians, and  to  be  reconciled  to  them.  Upon  which  account, 
since  Pericles  was  the  man  who  mainly  opposed  it,  and 
stirred  up  the  people's  passions  to  persist  in  their  conten- 
tion with  the  Megarians,  he  was  regarded  as  the  .sole  cause 
of  the  war. 

They  say,  moreover,  that  ambassadors  went,  by  order 
from  Lacedoemon  to  Athens  about  this  very  business, 
and  that  when  Pericles  was  urging  a  certain  law  which 


358  PERICLES. 

made  it  illegal  to  take  down  or  withdraw  the  tablet  of  the 
decree,  one  of  the  ambassadors,  Polyalces  by  name,  said, 
"Well,  do  not  take  it  down  then,  but  turn  it;  there  is 
no  law,  I  suppose,  which  forbids  that ; "  *  which,  though 
prettily  said,  did  not  move  Pericles  from  his  resolution. 
There  may  have  been,  in  all  likelihood,  something  of  a 
secret  grudge  and  private  animosity  which  he  had  against 
the  Megarians.  Yet,  upon  a  public  and  open  charge 
against  them,  that  they  had  appropriated  part  of  the 
sacred  land  on  the  frontier,  he  proposed  a  decree  that  a 
herald  should  be  sent  to  them,  and  the  same  also  to  the 
Lacedaemonians,  with  an  accusation  of  the  Megarians ;  an 
order  which  certainly  shows  equitable  and  friendly  pro- 
ceeding enough.  And  after  that  the  herald  who  was 
sent,  by  name  Anthemocritus,  died,  and  it  was  believed 
that  the  Megarians  had  contrived  his  death,  then  Cha- 
rinus  proposed  a  decree  against  them,  that  there  should 
be  an  irreconcilable  and  implacable  enmity  thenceforward 
betwixt  the  two  commonwealths ;  and  that  if  any  one  of 
the  Megarians  should  but  set  his  foot  in  Attica,  he  should  be 
put  to  death ;  and  that  the  commanders,  when  they  take 
the  usual  oath,  should,  over  and  above  that,  swear  that 
they  will  twice  every  year  make  an  inroad  into  the  Me- 
garian  country;  and  that  Anthemocritus  should  be  bu- 
ried near  the  Thriasian  Gates,  which  are  now  called  the 
Dipylon,  or  Double  Gate. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Megarians,  utterly  denying  and 
disowning  the  murder  of  Anthemocritus,  throw  the  whole 
matter  upon  Aspasia  and  Pericles,  availing  themselves  of 
the  famous  verses  in  the  Acharnians, 


*  The  word  for  taking  down,  in  two  senses.     "  If  you  may  not  take 

the  literal  sense,  is  also  the  techni-  it  down,  turn  it,  with  its  face  to  the 

cal  term  for  revoking,  or  repealing;  wall." 
hence  the  Spartans  play  upon  the 


PERICLES.  359 

To  Megara  some  of  our  madcaps  ran, 
And  stole  Simajtha  thence,  tlieir  courtesan. 
Which  exploit  the  Megarians  to  outdo, 
Came  to  Aspasia's  house,  and  took  off  two. 

The  true  occasion  of  the  quarrel  is  not  so  easy  to  find 
out  But  of  inducing  the  refusal  to  annul  the  decree,  all 
alike  charge  Pericles.  Some  say  he  met  the  request  with 
a  positive  refusal,  out  of  high  spirit  and  a  view  of  the 
state's  best  interests,  accounting  that  the  demand  made 
in  those  embassies  was  designed  for  a  trial  of  their  com- 
pliance, and  that  a  concession  would  be  taken  for  a  con- 
fession of  weakness,  as  if  they  durst  not  do  otherwise ; 
while  other  some  there  are  who  say  that  it  was  rather  out 
of  arrogance  and  a  wilful  spirit  of  contention,  to  show  his 
own  strength,  that  he  took  occasion  to  slight  the  Lacedae- 
monians. The  worst  motive  of  all,  which  is  confirmed 
by  most  witnesses,  is  to  the  following  effect.  Phidias  the 
Moulder  had,  as  has  before  been  said,  undertaken  to 
make  the  statue  of  Minerva.  Now  he,  being  admitted 
to  friendship  with  Pericles,  and  a  great  favorite  of  his, 
had  many  enemies  upon  this  account,  who  envied  and  ma- 
ligned him ;  who  also,  to  make  trial  in  a  case  of  his,  what 
kind  of  judges  the  commons  would  prove,  should  there 
be  occasion  to  bring  Pericles  himself  before  them,  having 
tampered  with  Menon,  one  who  had  been  a  workman 
with  Phidias,  stationed  him  in  the  market-place,  with  a 
petition  desiring  public  security  upon  his  discovery  and 
impeachment  of  Phidias.  The  people  admitting  the  man 
to  tell  his  story,  and  the  prosecution  proceeding  in  the 
assembly,  there  was  nothing  of  theft  or  cheat  proved 
against  him ;  for  Phidias,  from  the  very  first  beginning, 
by  the  advice  of  Pericles,  had  so  wrought  and  wrapt  the 
gold  that  was  used  in  the  work  about  the  statue,  that 
they  might  take  it  all  off  and  make  out  the  just  weight 
of  it,  which  Pericles  at  that  time  bade  the  accusers  do. 


360  PERICLES. 

But  the  reputation  of  his  works  was  what  brought  envy 
upon  Phidias,  especially  that  where  he  represents  the 
fight  of  the  Amazons  upon  the  goddesses'  shield,  he  had 
introduced  a  likeness  of  himself  as  a  bald  old  man  hold- 
ing up  a  great  stone  with  both  hands,  and  had  put  in  a 
very  fine  representation  of  Pericles  fighting  with  an 
Amazon.  And  the  position  of  the  hand,  which  holds  out 
the  spear  in  front  of  the  face,  was  ingeniously  contrived 
to  conceal  in  some  degree  the  likeness,  which,  meantime, 
showed  itself  on  either  side. 

Phidias  then  was  carried  away  to  prison,  and  there 
died  of  a  disease  ;  but,  as  some  say,  of  poison,  administered 
by  the  enemies  of  Pericles,  to  raise  a  slander,  or  a  suspicion, 
at  least,  as  though  he  had  procured  it.  The  informer 
Menon,  upon  Glycon's  proposal,  the  people  made  free 
from  payment  of  taxes  and  customs,  and  ordered  the 
generals  to  take  care  that  nobody  should  do  him  any  hurt. 
About  the  same  time,  Aspasia  was  indicted  of  impiety, 
upon  the  complaint  of  Hermippus  the  comedian,  who 
also  laid  further  to  her  charge  that  she  received  into  her 
house  freeborn  women  for  the  uses  of  Pericles.  And  Dio- 
pithes  proposed  a  decree,  that  public  accusation  should  be 
laid  against  persons  who  neglected  religion,  or  taught  new 
doctrines  about  things  above,*  directing  suspicion,  by 
means  of  Anaxagoras,  against  Pericles  himself  The 
people  receiving  and  admitting  these  accusations  and 
complaints,  at  length,  by  this  means,  they  came  to  enact 
a  decree,  at  the  motion  of  Dracontides,  that  Pericles 
should  bring  in  the  accounts  of  the  moneys  he  had  ex- 
pended, and  lodge  them  with  the  Prytanes ;  and  that  the 
judges,  carrying  their  suffrage  from  the  altar  in  the  Acro- 


*  "  Supera  ac  coelestia,"  as  Cicero  religion  was  based  on  certain  con- 
translates  the  words  meteora  and  ceptions  of  such  phenomena,  any 
metarsia,  whence  we  have  formed  tampering  with  which  was,  there- 
out meteorology.     The  whole  Greek  fore,  quickly  resented. 


PERICLES.  861 

polis,  should  examine  and  determine  the  business  in  the 
city.  This  last  clause  Hagnon  took  out  of  the  decree, 
and  moved  that  the  causes  should  be  tried  before  fifteen 
hundred  jurors,  whether  they  should  be  styled  prosecu- 
tions for  robbery,  or  bribery,  or  any  kind  of  malversation. 
Aspasia,  Pericles  begged  o%  shedding,  as  JEschines  says, 
many  tears  at  the  trial,  and  personally  entreating  the 
jurors.  But  fearing  how  it  might  go  with  Anaxagoras, 
he  sent  him  out  of  the  city.  And  finding  that  in  Phidias's 
case  he  had  miscarried  with  the  people,  being  afraid  of 
impeachment,  he  kindled  the  war,  which  hitherto  had  lin- 
gered and  smothered,  and  blew  it  up  into  a  flame  ;  hoping, 
by  that  means,  to  disperse  and  scatter  these  complaints 
and  charges,  and  to  allay  their  jealousy ;  the  city  usually 
throwing  herself  upon  him  alone,  and  trusting  to  his  sole 
conduct,  upon  the  urgenc}'  of  great  affairs  and  public 
dangers,  by  reason  of  his  authority  and  the  sway  he 
bore. 

These  are  given  out  to  have  been  the  reasons  which 
induced  Pericles  not  to  suffer  the  people  of  Athens  to 
yield  to  the  proposals  of  the  Lacedaemonians ;  but  their 
truth  is  uncertain. 

The  Lacedaemonians,  for  their  part,  feeling  sure  that  if 
they  could  once  remove  him,  they  might  be  at  what  terms 
they  pleased  with  the  Athenians,  sent  them  word  that 
they  should  expel  the  "Pollution"  with  which  Pericles 
on  the  mother's  side  was  tainted,  as  Thucydides  tells  us. 
But  the  issue  proved  quite  contrary  to  what  those  who 
sent  the  message  expected ;  instead  of  bringing  Pericles 
under  suspicion  and  reproach,  the}''  raised  him  into  yet 
greater  credit  and  esteem  with  the  citizens,  as  a  man 
whom  their  enemies  most  hated  and  feared.  Li  the  same 
way,  also,  before  Archidamus,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Peloponnesians,  made  his  invasion  into  Attica,  he  told  the 
Athenians  beforehand,  that  if  Archidamus,  while  he  laid 


362  PERICLES. 

waste  the  rest  of  the  country,  should  forbear  and  spare 
his  estate,  either  on  the  ground  of  friendship  or   right 
of  hospitality  that  was   betwixt   them,    or   on    purpose 
to  give  his  enemies  an  occasion  of  traducing  him,  that 
then  he  did  freely  bestow  upon  the  state  all  that  his  land 
and  the  buildings  upon  it  for  the  public  use.     The  Lace- 
daemonians, therefore,  and  their  allies,  with  a  great  army, 
invaded  the  Athenian  territories,  under  the  conduct  of 
king  Archidaraus,  and  laying  waste  the  country,  marched 
on  as  far  as  Acharnae,  and  there  pitched  their  camp,  pre- 
suming that  the  Athenians  would  never  endure  that,  but 
would  come  out  and  fight  them  for  their  country's  and 
their  honor's  sake.     But  Pericles  looked  upon  it  as  dan- 
gerous to  engage  in  battle,  to  the  risk  of  the  city  itself, 
against   sixty   thousand   men-at>arms  of  Peloponnesians 
and  Boeotians ;  for  so  many  they  were  in  number  that 
made  the  inroad  at  first;  and  he  endeavored  to  appease 
those  who  were  desirous  to  fight,  and  were  grieved  and 
discontented  to  see  how  things  went,  and  gave  them  good 
words,  saying,  that  "  trees,  when  they  are  lopped  and  cut, 
grow  up  again  in  a  short  time  but  men,  being  once  lost,  can- 
not easily  be  recovered."     He  did  not  convene  the  people 
into  an  assembly,  for  fear  lest  they  should  force  him  to 
act  against  his  judgment;  but,  like  a  skilful  steersman  or 
pilot  of  a  ship,  who,  when  a  sudden  squall  comes  on,  out 
at  sea,  makes  all  his  arrangements,  sees  that  all  is  tight 
and  fast,  and  then  follows  the  dictates  of  his  skill,  and 
minds  the  business  of  the  ship,  taking  no  notice  of  the 
tears  and  entreaties  of  the  sea-sick  and  fearful  passengers, 
so  he,  having  shut  up  the  city  gates,  and  placed  guards 
at  all  posts  for  security,  followed  his   own   reason   and 
judgment,  little  regarding  those  that  cried  out  against  him 
and  were  angry  at  his  management,  although  there  were 
a  great  many  of  his  friends  that  urged  him  with  requests, 
and  many  of  his  enemies  threatened  and  accused  him  for 


PERICLES.  363 

doing  as  he  did,  and  many  made  songs  and  lampoons 
upon  him,  which  were  sung  about  the  town  to  his  dis- 
grace, reproaching  him  with  the  cowardly  exercise  of  his 
office  of  general,  and  the  tame  abandonment  of  every 
thing  to  the  enemy's  hands. 

Cleon,  also,  already  was  among  his  assailants,  making 
use  of  the  feeling  against  him  as  a  step  to  the  leadership 
of  the  people,  as  appears  in  the  anapaestic  verses  of  Her- 
mippus. 

Satyr-king,  instead  of  swords, 
Will  you  always  handle  words  ? 
Very  brave  indeed  we  find  them, 
But  a  Teles  *  lurks  behind  them. 

Yet  to  gnash  your  teeth  you're  seen, 
When  the  little  dagger  keen, 
Whetted  every  day  anew. 
Of  sharp  Cleon  touches  you. 

Pericles,  however,  was  not  at  all  moved  by  any  attacks, 
but  took  all  patiently,  and  submitted  in  silence  to  the 
disgrace  they  threw  upon  him  and  the  ill-will  they  bore 
him ;  and,  sending  out  a  fleet  of  a  hundred  galleys  to 
Peloponnesus,  he  did  not  go  along  with  it  in  person, 
but  stayed  behind,  that  he  might  watch  at  home  and 
keep  the  city  under  his  own  control,  till  the  Pelopon- 
nesians  broke  up  their  camp  and  were  gone.  Yet  to 
soothe  the  common  people,  jaded  and  distressed  with  the 
war,  he  relieved  them  with  distributions  of  public  moneys, 
and  ordained  new  divisions  of  subject  land.  For  hav- 
ing turned  out  all  the  people  of  ^gina,  he  parted  the 
island  among  the  Athenians,  according  to  lot.  Some 
comfort,  also,  and  ease  in  their  miseries,  they  might  re- 
ceive from  what  their  enemies  endured.     For  the  fleet, 

*  Apparently  some  notorious  coward. 


364  PERICLES. 

sailing  round  the  Peloponnese,  ravaged  a  great  deal  of 
the  country,  and  pillaged  and  plundered  the  towns  and 
smaller  cities ;  and  by  land  he  himself  entered  with  an 
army  the  Megarian  country,  and  made  havoc  of  it  all. 
Whence  it  is  clear  that  the  Peloponnesians,  though  they 
did  the  Athenians  much  mischief  by  land,  yet  suffering 
as  much  themselves  from  them  by  sea,  would  not  have 
protracted  the  war  to  such  a  length,  but  would  quickly 
have  given  it  over,  as  Pericles  at  first  foretold  they 
would,  had  not  some  divine  power  crossed  human  pur- 
poses. 

In  the  first  place,  the  pestilential  disease,  or  plague, 
seized  upon  the  city,  and  ate  up  all  the  flower  and  prime 
of  their  youth  and  strength.  Upon  occasion  of  which, 
the  people,  distempered  and  afflicted  in  their  souls,  as  well 
as  in  their  bodies,  were  utterly  enraged  like  madmen 
against  Pericles,  and,  like  patients  grown  delirious,  sought 
to  lay  violent  hands  on  their  physician,  or,  as  it  were,  their 
father.  They  had  been  possessed,  by  his  enemies,  with 
the  belief  that  the  occasion  of  the  plague  was  the  crowd- 
ing of  the  country  people  together  into  the  town,  forced 
as  they  were  now,  in  the  heat  of  the  summer-weather,  to 
dwell  many  of  them  together  even  as  they  could,  in  small 
tenements  and  stifling  hovels,  and  to  be  tied  to  a  lazy 
course  of  life  within  doors,  whereas  before  they  lived  in 
a  pure,  open,  and  free  air.  The  cause  and  author  of  all 
this,  said  they,  is  he  who  on  account  of  the  war  has 
poured  a  multitude  of  people  from  the  country  in  upon 
us  within  the  walls,  and  uses  all  these  many  men  that 
he  has  here  upon  no  employ  or  service,  but  keeps  them 
pent  up  like  cattle,  to  be  overrun  with  infection  from 
one  another,  affording  them  neither  shift  of  quarters  nor 
any  refreshment. 

With  the  design  to  remedy  these  evils,  and  do  the  en- 
emy some  inconvenience,  Pericles  got  a  hundred  and  fifty 


PERICLES.  365 

galleys  ready,  and  having  embarked  many  tried  soldiers, 
both  foot  and  horse,  was  about  to  sail  out,  giving  great 
hope  to  his  citizens,  and  no  less  alarm  to  his  enemies,  upon 
the  sight  of  so  great  a  force.  And  now  the  vessels  hav- 
ing their  complement  of  men,  and  Pericles  being  gone 
aboard  his  own  galley,  it  happened  that  the  sun  was 
eclipsed,  and  it  grew  dark  on  a  sudden,  to  the  affright  of 
all,  for  this  was  looked  upon  as  extremely  ominous.  Per- 
icles, therefore,  perceiving  the  steersman  seized  with  fear 
and  at  a  loss  what  to  do,  took  his  cloak  and  held  it  up  before 
the  man's  face,  and,  screening  him  with  it  so  that  he  could 
not  see,  asked  him  whether  he  imagined  there  was  any 
great  hurt,  or  the  sign  of  any  great  hurt  in  this,  and  he 
answering  No,  "  Why,"  said  he,  "  and  what  does  that 
differ  from  this,  only  that  what  has  caused  that  darkness 
there,  is  something  greater  than  a  cloak  ?  "  This  is  a  story 
which  philosophers  tell  their  scholars.  Pericles,  however 
after  putting  out  to  sea,  seems  not  to  have  done  any 
other  exploit  befitting  such  preparations,  and  when  he 
had  laid  siege  to  the  holy  city  Epidaurus,  which  gave  him 
some  hope  of  surrender,  miscarried  in  his  design  by  reason 
of  the  sickness.  For  it  not  only  seized  upon  the  Athe- 
nians, but  upon  all  others,  too,  that  held  any  sort  of  com- 
munication with  the  army.  Finding  after  this  the  Athe- 
nians ill  affected  and  highly  displeased  with  him,  he  tried 
and  endeavored  what  he  could  to  appease  and  re-encour- 
age them.  But  he  could  not  pacify  or  allay  their  anger, 
nor  persuade  or  prevail  with  them  any  way,  till  they 
freely  passed  their  votes  upon  him,  resumed  their 
power,  took  away  his  command  from  him,  and  fined  him 
in  a  sum  of  money;  which,  by  their  account  that  say 
least,  was  fifteen  talents,  while  they  who  reckon  most, 
name  fifty.  The  name  prefixed  to  the  accusation  was 
Cleon,  as  Idomeneus  tells  us  ;  Simmias,  according  to  The- 
ophiastus  ;  and  Heraclides  Ponticus  gives  it  as  Lacratidas. 


366  PERICLES. 

After  this,  public  troubles  were  soon  to  leave  him  un- 
molested ;  the  people,  so  to  say,  discharged  their  passion 
in  their  stroke,  and  lost  their  stings  in  the  wound.  But 
his  domestic  concerns  were  in  an  unhappy  condition, 
many  of  his  friends  and  acquaintance  having  died  in 
the  plague  time,  and  those  of  his  family  having  long 
since  been  in  disorder  and  in  a  kind  of  mutiny  against 
him.  For  the  eldest  of  his  lawfully  begotten  sons,  Xan- 
thippus  by  name,  being  naturally  prodigal,  and  marrying 
a  young  and  expensive  wife,  the  daughter  of  Tisander, 
son  of  Epilycus,  was  highly  offended  at  his  father's  econ- 
omy in  making  him  but  a  scanty  allowance,  by  little 
and  little  at  a  time.  He  sent,  therefore,  to  a  friend  one 
day,  and  borrowed  some  money  of  him  in  his  father 
Pericles's  name,  pretending  it  was  by  his  order.  The 
man  coming  afterward  to  demand  the  debt,  Pericles  was 
80  far  from  yielding  to  pay  it,  that  he  entered  an  action 
against  him.  Upon  which  the  young  man,  Xanthippus, 
thought  himself  so  ill  used  and  disobliged,  that  he  openly 
reviled  his  father ;  telling  first,  by  way  of  ridicule,  stories 
about  his  conversations  at  home,  and  the  discourses  he 
had  with  the  sophists  and  scholars  that  came  to  his  house. 
As  for  instance,  how  one  who  was  a  practiser  of  the 
five  games  of  skill,*  having  with  a  dart  or  javelin  un- 
awares against  his  will  struck  and  killed  Epitimus  the 
Pharsalian,  his  father  spent  a  whole  day  with  Protago- 
ras in  a  serious  dispute,  whether  the  javelin,  or  the  man 
that  threw  it,  or  the  masters  of  the  games  who  appointed 
these  sports,  were,  according  to  the  strictest  and  best 
reason,  to  be  accounted  the  cause  of  this  mischance.  Be- 
sides this,  Stesimbrotus  tells  us  that  it  was  Xanthippus 
who  spread  abroad  among  the  people  the  infamous  story 


« 


These  are  recorded  in  a  pentameter  verse  by  Simonides. 


Halma,  podokeien,  discon,  aconta,     Leaping,    and    swiftness    of   foot, 
palen.  wrestling,  the  discus,  the  dart. 


PERICLES.  307 

concerning  his  own  wife ;  and  in  general  that  this  difler- 
ence  of  the  young  man's  with  his  father,  and  the 
breach  betwixt  them,  continued  never  to  be  healed  or 
made  up  till  his  death.  For  Xanthippus  died  in  the 
plague  time  of  the  sickness.  At  which  time  Pericles 
also  lost  his  sister,  and  the  greatest  part  of  his  relations 
and  friends,  and  those  who  had  been  most  useful 
and  serviceable  to  him  in  managing  the  affairs  of  state. 
However,  he  did  not  shrink  or  give  in  upon  these  occa- 
sions, nor  betray  or  lower  his  high  spirit  and  the  greatness 
of  his  mind  under  all  his  misfortunes ;  he  was  not  even 
so  much  as  seen  to  weep  or  to  mourn,  or  even  attend  the 
burial  of  any  of  his  friends  or  relations,  till  at  last  he  lost 
his  only  remaining  legithnate  son.  Subdued  by  this  blow, 
and  yet  striving  still,  as  far  as  he  could,  to  maintain  his  prin- 
ciple, and  to  preserve  and  keep  up  the  greatness  of  his 
soul  when  he  came,  however,  to  perform  the  ceremony 
of  putting  a  garland  of  flowers  upon  the  head  of  the 
corpse,  he  was  vanquished  by  his  passion  at  the  sight,  so 
that  he  burst  into  exclamations,  and  shed  copious  tears, 
having  never  done  any  such  thing  in  all  his  life  before. 

The  city  having  made  trial  of  other  generals  for  the 
conduct  of  war,  and  orators  for  business  of  state,  when 
they  found  there  was  no  one  who  was  of  weight  enough 
for  such  a  charge,  or  of  authority  sufficient  to  be  trusted 
with  so  great  a  command,  regretted  the  loss  of  him,  and 
invited  him  again  to  address  and  advise  them,  and  to  re- 
assume  the  office  of  general.  He,  however,  lay  at  home 
in  dejection  and  mourning ;  but  was  persuaded  by  Alci- 
biades  and  others  of  his  friends  to  come  abroad  and  show 
himself  to  the  people ;  who  having,  upon  his  appearance, 
made  their  acknowledgments,  and  apologized  for  their 
untowardly  treatment  of  him,  he  undertook  the  public 
affairs  once  more ;  and,  being  chosen  general,  requested 
that  the  statute  concerning  base-born  children,  which  ho 


368  PERICLES. 

himself  had  formerly  caused  to  be  made,  might  be  sus- 
pended ;  that  so  the  name  and  race  of  his  family  might 
not,  for  absolute  want  of  a  lawful  heir  to  succeed,  be 
wholly  lost  and  extinguished.  The  case  of  the  statute 
was  thus :  Pericles,  when  long  ago  at  the  height  of  his 
power  in  the  state,  having  then,  as  has  been  said,  chil- 
dren lawfully  begotten,  proposed  a  law  that  those  only 
should  be  reputed  true  citizens  of  Athens  who  were  born 
of  such  parents  as  were  both  Athenians.  After  this,  the 
king  of  Egypt  having  sent  to  the  people,  by  way  of  pres- 
ent, forty  thousand  bushels  of  wheat,  which  were  to  be 
shared  out  among  the  citizens,  a  great  many  actions  and 
suits  about  legitimacy  occurred,  by  virtue  of  that  edict ; 
cases  which,  till  that  time,  had  not  been  known  nor  taken 
notice  of;  and  several  persons  suffered  by  false  accusa- 
tions. There  were  little  less  than  five  thousand  who  were 
convicted  and  sold  for  slaves;  those  who,  enduring  the 
test,  remained  in  the  government  and  passed  muster  for 
true  Athenians  were  found  upon  the  poll  to  be  fourteen 
thousand  and  forty  persons  in  number. 

It  looked  strange,  that  a  law,  which  had  been  carried 
so  far  against  so  many  people,  should  be  cancelled  again 
by  the  same  man  that  made  it ;  yet  the  present  calamity 
and  distress  which  Pericles  labored  under  in  his  family 
broke  through  all  objections,  and  prevailed  with  the 
Athenians  to  pity  him,  as  one  whose  losses  and  misfor- 
tunes had  sufficiently  punished  his  former  arrogance  and 
haughtiness.  His  sufferings  deserved,  they  thought,  their 
pity,  and  even  indignation,  and  his  request  was  such 
as  became  a  man  to  ask  and  men  to  grant ;  they  gave 
him  permission  to  enroll  his  son  in  the  register  of  his 
fraternity,  giving  him  his  own  name.  This  son  afterward, 
after  having  defeated  the  Peloponnesians  at  Arginusae, 
was,  with  his  fellow-generals,  put  to  death  by  the  people. 

About  the  time  when  his  son  was  enrolled,  it  should 


PERICLES.  369 

seem,  the  plague  seized  Pericles,  not  with  sharp  and  vio- 
lent fits,  as  it  did  others  that  had  it,  but  with  a  dull  and 
lingering  distemper,  attended  with  various  changes  and 
alterations,  leisurely,  by  little  and  little,  wasting  the 
strength  of  his  body,  and  undermining  the  noble  faculties 
of  his  soul.  So  that  Theophrastus,  in  his  Morals,  when 
discussing  whether  men's  characters  change  with  their  cir- 
cumstances, and  their  moral  habits,  disturbed  by  the 
ailings  of  their  bodies,  start  aside  from  the  rules  of  virtue, 
has  left  it  upon  record,  that  Pericles,  when  he  was  sick, 
showed  one  of  his  friends  that  came  to  visit  him,  an  amu- 
let or  charm  that  the  women  had  hung  about  his  neck ; 
as  much  as  to  say,  that  he  was  very  sick  indeed  when  he 
would  admit  of  such  a  foolery  as  that  was. 

When  he  was  now  near  his  end,  the  best  of  the  citizens 
and  those  of  his  friends  who  were  left  alive,  sitting  about 
him,  were  speaking  of  the  greatness  of  his  merit,  and  his 
power,  and  reckoning  up  his  famous  actions  and  the  num- 
ber of  his  victories ;  for  there  were  no  less  than  nine  tro- 
phies, which,  as  their  chief  commander  and  conqueror  of 
their  enemies,  he  had  set  up,  for  the  honor  of  the  city. 
They  talked  thus  together  among  themselves,  as  though 
he  were  unable  to  understand  or  mind  what  they  said, 
but  had  now  lost  his  consciousness.  He  had  listened,  how- 
ever, all  the  while,  and  attended  to  all,  and  speaking  out 
among  them,  said,  that  he  wondered  they  should  com- 
mend and  take  notice  of  things  which  were  as  much 
owing  to  fortune  as  to  any  thing  else,  and  had  happened 
to  many  other  commanders,  and,  at  the  same  time,  should 
not  speak  or  make  mention  of  that  which  was  the  most 
excellent  and  greatest  thing  of  all.  "  For,"  said  he,  "  no 
Athenian,  through  my  means,  ever  wore  mourning." 

He  was  indeed  a  character  deserving  our  high  admira- 
tion, not  only  for  his  equitable  and  mild  temper,  which 
all  along  in  the  many  affairs  of  his  life,  and  the  great 
VOL.  I.  24 


370  PERICLES. 

animosities  which  he  incurred,  he  constantly  maintained  ; 
but  also  for  the  high  spirit  and  feeling  which  made  him 
regard  it  the  noblest  of  all  his  honors  that,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  such  immense  power,  he  never  had  gratified  his 
envy  or  his  passion,  nor  ever  had  treated  any  enemy  as 
irreconcilably  opposed  to  him.  And  to  me  it  appears 
that  this  one  thing  gives  that  otherwise  childish  and  arro- 
gant title  a  fitting  and  becoming  significance ;  so  dispas- 
sionate a  temper,  a  life  so  pure  and  unblemished,  in  the 
height  of  power  and  place,  might  well  be  called  Olym- 
pian, in  accordance  with  our  conceptions  of  the  divine 
beings,  to  whom,  as  the  natural  authors  of  all  good  and 
of  nothing  evil,  we  ascribe  the  rule  and  government  of 
the  world.  Not  as  the  poets  represent,  who,  while  con- 
founding us  with  their  ignorant  fancies,  are  themselves 
confuted  by  their  own  poems  and  fictions,  and  call  the 
place,  indeed,  where  they  say  the  gods  make  their  abode, 
a  secure  and  quiet  seat,  free  from  all  hazards  and  com- 
motions, untroubled  with  winds  or  with  clouds,  and 
equally  through  all  time  illumined  with  a  soft  serenity 
and  a  pure  light,  as  though  such  were  a  home  most 
agreeable  for  a  blessed  and  immortal  nature  ;  and  yet,  in 
the  mean  while,  affirm  that  the  gods  themselves  are  full 
of  trouble  and  enmity  and  anger  and  other  passions, 
which  no  way  become  or  belong  to  even  men  that  have 
any  understanding.  But  this  will,  perhaps,  seem  a  subject 
fitter  for  some  other  consideration,  and  that  ought  to  be 
treated  of  in  some  other  place. 

The  course  of  public  afiairs  after  his  death  produced  a 
quick  and  speedy  sense  of  the  loss  of  Pericles.  Those 
who,  while  he  lived,  resented  his  great  authority,  as  that 
which  eclipsed  themselves,  presently  after  his  quitting 
the  stage,  making  trial  of  other  orators  and  demagogues, 
readily  acknowledged  that  there  never  had  been  in  nature 
such  a  disposition  as  his  was,  more  moderate  and  reasona- 


PERICLES.  371 

ble  in  the  height  of  that  state  he  took  upon  him,  or  more 
grave  and  impressive  in  the  mildness  which  he  used. 
And  that  invidious  arbitrary  power,  to  which  formerly 
they  gave  the  name  of  monarchy  and  tyranny,  did  then 
appear  to  have  been  the  chief  bulwark  of  public  safety ; 
so  great  a  corruption  and  such  a  flood  of  mischief  and 
vice  followed,  which  he,  by  keeping  weak  and  low,  had 
withheld  from  notice,  and  had  prevented  from  attaining 
incurable  height  through  a  licentious  impunity. 


F  ABI  us. 


Having  related  the  memorable  actions  of  Pericles,  our 
history  now  proceeds  to  the  life  of  Fabius.  A  son  of 
Hercules  and  a  nymph,  or  some  woman  of  that  country, 
who  brought  him  forth  on  the  banks  of  Tiber,  was,  it 
is  said,  the  first  Fabius,  the  founder  of  the  numerous  and 
distinguished  family  of  the  name.  Others  will  have  it 
that  they  were  first  called  Fodii,  because  the  first  of  the 
race  delighted  in  digging  pit-falls  for  wild  hesists,  fodere 
being  still  the  Latin  for  to  dig,  and  fossa  for  a  ditch,  and 
that  in  process  of  time,  by  the  change  of  the  two  letters 
they  grew  to  be  called  Fabii.  But  be  these  things  true 
or  false,  certain  it  is  that  this  family  for  a  long  time 
yielded  a  great  number  of  eminent  persons.  Our  Fabius, 
who  was  fourth  in  descent  from  that  Fabius  Rullus  who 
first  brought  the  honorable  surname  of  Maximus  into  his 
family,  was  also,  by  way  of  personal  nickname,  called 
Verrucosus,  from  a  wart  on  his  upper  lip ;  and  in  his 
childhood  they  in  like  manner  named  him  Ovicula,  or  The 
Lamb,  on  account  of  his  extreme  mildness  of  temper. 
His  slowness  in  speaking,  his  long  labor  and  pains  in 
learning,  his  deliberation  in  entering  into  the  sports  of 
other  children,  his  easy  submission  to  everybody,  as  if  he 
had  no  will  of  his  own,  made  those  who  judged  superfi- 
cially of  him,  the  greater  number,  esteem  him  insensible 
and  stupid ;  and   few  only  saw  that  this  tardiness  pro- 

(872) 


FABIUS.  373 

ceeded  from  stability,  and  discerned  the  greatness  of  his 
mind,  and  the  lionlikeness  of  his  temper.  But  as  soon 
as  he  came  into  employments,  his  virtues  exerted  and 
showed  themselves ;  his  reputed  want  of  energy  then 
was  recognized  by  people  in  general,  as  a  freedom  of 
passion ;  his  slowness  in  words  and  actions,  the  eflect  of  a 
true  prudence ;  his  want  of  rapidity,  and  his  sluggishness, 
as  constancy  and  firmness. 

Living  in  a  great  commonwealth,  surrounded  by  many 
enemies,  he  saw  the  wisdom  of  inuring  his  body  (nature's 
own  weapon)  to  warlike  exercises,  and  disciplining  his 
tongue  for  public  oratory  in  a  style  comformable  to  his 
life  and  character.  His  eloquence,  indeed,  had  not  much 
of  popular  ornament,  nor  empty  artifice,  but  there  was 
in  it  great  weight  of  sense ;  it  was  strong  and  senten- 
tious, much  after  the  way  of  Thucydides.  We  have  yet 
extant  his  funeral  oration  upon  the  death  of  his  son,  who 
died  consul,  which  he  recited  before  the  people. 

He  was  five  times  consul,  and  in  his  first  consulship 
had  the  honor  of  a  triumph  for  the  victory  he  gained 
over  the  Ligurians,  whom  he  defeated  in  a  set  battle,  and 
drove  them  to  take  shelter  in  the  Alps,  from  whence 
they  never  after  made  any  inroad  nor  depredation  upon 
their  neighbors.  After  this,  Hannibal  came  into  Italy, 
who,  at  his  first  entrance,  having  gained  a  great  battle 
near  the  river  Trebia,  traversed  all  Tuscany  with  his  vic- 
torious army,  and,  desolating  the  country  round  about, 
filled  Rome  itself  with  astonishment  and  terror.  Besides 
the  more  common  signs  of  thunder  and  lightning  then 
happening,  the  report  of  several  unheard  of  and  utterly 
strange  portents  much  increased  the  popular  consternar 
tion.  For  it  was  said  that  some  targets  sweated  blood  ; 
that  at  Antium,  when  they  reaped  their  corn,  many  of 
the  ears  were  filled  with  blood  j  that  it  had  rained  red- 
hot  stones;  that  the  Falerians  had  seen  the  heavens  open 


374  FABIUS. 

and  several  scrolls  falling  down,  in  one  of  which  was 
plainl}^  written,  "Mars  himself  stirs  his  arms."  But  these 
prodigies  had  no  effect  upon  the  impetuous  and  fiery 
temper  of  the  consul  Flaminius,  whose  natural  prompt- 
ness  had  been  much  heightened  by  his  late  unexpected 
victory  over  the  Gauls,  when  he  fought  them  contrary  to 
the  order  of  the  senate  and  the  advice  of  his  colleague. 
Fabius,  on  the  other  side,  thought  it  not  seasonable  to 
engage  with  the  enemy ;  not  that  he  much  regarded  the 
prodigies,  which  he  thought  too  strange  to  be  easily 
understood,  though  many  were  alarmed  by  them ;  but  in 
regard  that  the  Carthaginians  were  but  few,  and  in  want 
of  money  and  supplies,  he  deemed  it  best  not  to  meet  in 
the  field  a  general  whose  army  had  been  tried  in  many 
encounters,  and  whose  object  was  a  battle,  but  to  send 
aid  to  their  allies,  control  the  movements  of  the  various 
subject  cities,  and  let  the  force  and  vigor  of  Hannibal 
waste  away  and  expire,  like  a  flame,  for  want  of  aliment. 
These  weighty  reasons  did  not  prevail  with  Flaminius, 
who  protested  he  would  never  suffer  the  advance  of  the 
enemy  to  the  city,  nor  be  reduced,  like  Camillus  in  former 
time,  to  fight  for  Eome  within  the  walls  of  Kome. 
Accordingly  he  ordered  the  tribunes  to  draw  out  the 
army  into  the  field ;  and  though  he  himself,  leaping  on 
horseback  to  go  out,  was  no  sooner  mounted  but  the 
beast,  without  any  apparent  cause,  fell  into  so  violent  a 
fit  of  trembling  and  bounding  that  he  cast  his  rider 
headlong  on  the  ground,  he  was  no  ways  deterred ;  but 
proceeded  as  he  had  begun,  and  marched  forward  up 
to  Hannibal,  who  was  posted  near  the  Lake  Thrasymene 
in  Tuscany.  At  the  moment  of  this  engagement,  there 
happened  so  great  an  earthquake,  that  it  destroyed  sev- 
eral towns,  altered  the  course  of  rivers,  and  carried  off 
parts  of  high  cliffs,  yet  such  was  the  eagerness  of  the 
combatants,  that  they  were  entirely  insensible  of  it. 


FABIUS.  375 

In  this  battle  Flaminius  fell,  after  many  proofs  of  his 
strength  and  courage,  and  round  about  him  all  the 
bravest  of  the  army ;  in  the  whole,  fifteen  thousand  were 
killed,  and  as  many  made  prisoners.  Hannibal,  desirous 
to  bestow  funeral  honors  upon  the  body  of  Flaminius. 
made  diligent  search  after  it,  but  could  not  find  it  among 
the  dead,  nor  was  it  ever  known  what  became  of  it. 
Upon  the  former  engagement  near  Trebia,  neither  the 
general  who  wTote,  nor  the  express  who  told  the  news, 
used  straightforward  and  direct  terms,  nor  related  it 
otherwise  than  as  a  drawn  battle,  with  equal  loss  on 
either  side ;  but  on  this  occasion,  as  soon  as  Pomponius 
the  praetor  had  the  intelligence,  he  caused  the  people  to 
assemble,  and,  without  disguising  or  dissembling  the  mat- 
ter, told  them  plainly,  "  We  are  beaten,  0  Romans,  in  a 
great  battle  ;  the  consul  Flaminius  is  killed  ;  think,  there- 
fore, what  is  to  be  done  for  your  safety."  Letting  loose 
his  news  like  a  gale  of  wind  upon  an  open  sea,  he  threw 
the  city  into  utter  confusion :  in  such  consternation, 
their  thoughts  found  no  support  or  stay.  The  danger  at 
hand  at  last  awakened  their  judgments  into  a  resolution 
to  choose  a  dictator,  who,  by  the  sovereign  authority  of 
his  office,  and  by  his  personal  wisdom  and  courage,  might 
be  able  to  manage  the  public  affairs.  Their  choice  unan 
imously  fell  upon  Fabius,  whose  character  seemed  equal 
to  the  greatness  of  the  office ;  whose  age  was  so  far 
advanced  as  to  give  him  experience,  without  taking  from 
him  the  vigor  of  action ;  his  body  could  execute  what 
his  soul  designed ;  and  his  temper  was  a  happy  com- 
pound of  confidence  and  cautiousness. 

Fabius,  being  thus  installed  in  the  office  of  dictator,  in 
the  first  place  gave  the  command  of  the  horse  to  Lucius 
Minucius ;  and  next  asked  leave  of  the  senate  for  himself, 
that  in  time  of  battle  he  might  serve  on  horsebaclv,  which 
by  an  ancient  law  amongst  the  Romans  was  forbid  to  their 


376  FABIUS 

generals ;  whether  it  were,  that,  placing  their  greatest 
strength  in  their  foot,  they  would  have  their  commanders- 
in-chief  posted  amongst  them,  or  else  to  let  them  know, 
that,  how  great  and  absolute  soever  their  authority  were, 
the  people  and  senate  were  still  their  masters,  of  whom 
they  must  ask  leave.  Fabius,  however,  to  make  the 
authority  of  his  charge  more  observable,  and  to  render 
the  people  more  submissive  and  obedient  to  him,  caused 
himself  to  be  accompanied  with  the  full  body  of  four  and 
twenty  lictors ;  and,  when  the  surviving  consul  came  to 
visit  him,  sent  him  word  to  dismiss  his  lictors  with  their 
fasces,  the  ensigns  of  authority,  and  appear  before  him  as 
a  private  person. 

The  first  solemn  action  of  his  dictatorship  was  very 
fitly  a  religious  one :  an  admonition  to  the  people,  that 
their  late  overthrow  had  not  befallen  them  through  want 
of  courage  in  their  soldiers,  but  through  the  neglect  of 
divine  ceremonies  in  the  general.  He  therefore  ^- 
horted  them  not  to  fear  the  enemy,  but  by  extraordinary 
honor  to  propitiate  the  gods.  This  he  did,  not  to  fill 
their  minds  with  superstition,  but  by  religious  feeling  to 
raise  their  courage,  and  lessen  their  fear  of  the  enemy  by 
inspiring  the  belief  that  Heaven  was  on  their  side.  With 
this  view,  the  secret  prophecies  called  the  Sibylline  Books 
were  consulted ;  sundry  predictions  found  in  them  were 
said  to  refer  to  the  fortunes  and  events  of  the  time ;  but 
none  except  the  consulter  was  informed.  Presenting 
himself  to  the  people,  the  dictator  made  a  vow  before 
them  to  offer  in  sacrifice  the  whole  product  of  the  next 
season,  all  Italy  over,  of  the  cows,  goats,  swine,  sheep, 
both  in  the  mountains  and  the  plains ;  and  to  celebrate 
musical  festivities  with  an  expenditure  of  the  precise 
sum  of  333  sestertia  and  333  denarii,  with  one  third  of 
a  denarius  over.  The  sum  total  of  which  is,  in  our 
money,  83,583  drachmas  and  2  obols.     What  the  mystery 


FABIUS.  377 

might  be  in  that  exact  number  is  not  easy  to  determine, 
unless  it  were  in  honor  of  the  perfection  of  the  number 
three,  as  being  the  first  of  odd  numbers,  the  first  that 
contains  in  itself  multiplication,  with  all  other  properties 
whatsoever  belonging  to  numbers  in  general. 

In  this  manner  Fabius  having  given  the  people  better 
heart  for  the  future,  by  making  them  believe  that  the 
gods  took  their  side,  for  his  own  part  placed  his  whole 
confidence  in  himself,  believing  that  the  gods  bestowed 
victory  and  good  fortune  by  the  instrumentality  of  valor 
and  of  prudence ;  and  thus  prepared  he  set  forth  to 
oppose  Hannibal,  not  with  intention  to  fight  him,  but 
with  the  purpose  of  wearing  out  and  wasting  the  vigor 
of  his  arms  by  lapse  of  time,  of  meeting  his  want  of  re- 
sources by  superior  means,  by  large  numbers  the  smallness 
of  his  forces.  With  this  design,  he  always  encamped  on 
the  highest  grounds,  where  the  enemy's  horse  could  have 
no  access  to  him.  Still  he  kept  pace  with  them ;  when  they 
marched  he  followed  them ;  when  they  encamped  he  did 
the  same,  but  at  such  a  distance  as  not  to  be  compelled 
to  an  engagement,  and  always  keeping  upon  the  hills, 
free  from  the  insults  of  their  horse ;  by  which  means 
he  gave  them  no  rest,  but  kept  them  in  a  continual 
alarm. 

But  this  his  dilatory  way  gave  occasion  in  his  own 
camp  for  suspicion  of  want  of  courage ;  and  this  opinion 
prevailed  yet  more  in  Hannibal's  army.  Hannibal  was 
himself  the  only  man  who  was  not  deceived,  who  discerned 
his  skill  and  detected  his  tactics,  and  saw,  unless  he  could 
by  art  or  force  bring  him  to  battle,  that  the  Cartha- 
ginians, unable  to  use  the  arms  in  which  they  were  supe- 
rior, and  suffering  the  continual  drain  of  lives  and  treas- 
ure in  which  they  were  inferior,  would  in  the  end  come 
to  nothing.  He  resolved,  therefore,  with  all  the  arts  and 
subtilties    of  war   to    break  his  measures,  and  to  bring 


378  FABIUS. 

Fabius  to  an  engagement;  like  a  cunning  wrestler, 
watching  every  opportunity  to  get  good  hold  and  close 
with  his  adversary.  He  at  one  time  attacked,  and  sought 
to  distract  his  attention,  tried  to  draw  him  off  in  various 
directions,  endeavored  in  all  ways  to  tempt  him  from 
his  safe  policy.  All  this  artifice,  though  it  had  no  effect 
upon  the  firm  judgment  and  conviction  of  the  dictator. 
yet  upon  the  common  soldier  and  even  upon  the  general 
of  the  horse  himself,  it  had  too  great  an  operation :  Minu- 
cius,  unseasonably  eager  for  action,  bold  and  confident, 
humored  the  soldiery,  and  himself  contributed  to  fill 
them  with  wild  eagerness  and  empty  hopes,  which  they 
vented  in  reproaches  upon  Fabius,  calling  him  Hannibal's 
pedagogue,*  since  he  did  nothing  else  but  follow  him  up 
and  down  and  wait  upon  him.  At  the  same  time,  they 
cried  up  Minucius  for  the  only  captain  worthy  to  com- 
mand the  Romans ;  whose  vanity  and  presumption  rose  so 
high  in  consequence,  that  he  insolently  jested  at  Fabius's 
encampments  upon  the  mountains,  saying  that  he  seated 
them  there  as  on  a  theatre,  to  behold  the  flames  and  deso- 
lation of  their  country.  And  he  would  sometimes  ask  the 
friends  of  the  general,  whether  it  were  not  his  meaning, 
by  thus  leading  them  from  mountain  to  mountain,  to 
carry  them  at  last  (having  no  hopes  on  earth)  up  into 
heaven,  or  to  hide  them  in  the  clouds  from  Hannibal's 
army?  When  his  friends  reported  these  things  to  the 
dictator,  persuading  him  that,  to  avoid  the  general  oblo- 
quy, he  should  engage  the  enemy,  his  answer  was,  "T 
should  be  more  fainthearted  than  they  make  me,  if, 
through   fear  of  idle  reproaches,  I  should  abandon  my 


*  Hannibal's  footman,  might  per-  cially  out  of  the  house,  upon  the 

haps  give  the  jest  more  correctly,  young  boys  of  the  family,  and,  in 

The   pasdagogus    of   the     ancients  particular,  to   take  them  to  school 

was  merely  the  slave  appointed  to  and  bring  them  home  again, 
be    in   constant   attendance,   espe- 


FABIUS.  379 

own  convictions.  It  is  no  inglorious  thing  to  have  fear 
for  the  safety  of  our  country,  but  to  be  turned  from  one's 
course  by  men's  opinions,  by  blame,  and  by  misrepresen- 
tation, shows  a  man  unfit  to  hold  an  office  such  as  this, 
which,  by  such  conduct,  he  makes  the  slave  of  those 
whose  errors  it  is  his  business  to  control." 

An  oversight  of  Hannibal  occurred  soon  after.  De- 
sirous to  refresh  his  horse  in  some  good  pasture-grounds, 
and  to  draw  off  his  army,  he  ordered  his  guides  to  con- 
duct him  to  the  district  of  Casinum.  Thev,  mistakimr 
his  bad  pronunciation,  led  him  and  his  army  to  the  town 
of  Casilinum,  on  the  frontier  of  Campania  which  the 
river  Lothronus,  called  by  the  Romans  Vulturnus, 
divides  in  two  parts.  The  country  around  is  enclosed  by 
mountains,  with  a  valley  opening  towards  the  sea,  in 
which  the  river  overflowing  forms  a  quantity  of  marsh 
land  with  deep  banks  of  sand,  and  discharges  itself  into 
the  sea  on  a  very  unsafe  and  rough  shore.  While  Han- 
nibal was  proceeding  hither,  Fabius,  by  his  knowledge  of 
the  roads,  succeeded  in  making  his  way  around  before 
him,  and  despatched  four  thousand  choice  men  to  seize 
the  exit  from  it  and  stop  him  up,  and  lodged  the  rest  of 
his  army  upon  the  neighboring  hills  in  the  most  advan- 
tageous places ;  at  the  same  time  detaching  a  party  of 
his  lightest  armed  men  to  fall  upon  Hannibal's  rear ; 
which  they  did  with  such  success,  that  they  cut  off  eight 
hundred  of  them,  and  put  the  whole  army  in  disorder. 
Hannibal,  finding  the  error  and  the  danger  lie  was  fallen 
into,  immediately  crucified  the  guides ;  but  considered 
the  enemy  to  be  so  advantageously  posted,  that  there 
was  no  hopes  of  breaking  through  them ;  while  his  sol- 
diers began  to  be  despondent  and  terrified,  and  to  think 
themselves  surrounded  with  embarrassments  too  difficult 
to  be  surmounted. 

Thus  reduced,  Hannibal  had  recourse  to  stratagem ;  he 


380  FABIUS. 

caused  two  thousand  head  of  oxen  which  he  had  in  his 
camp,  to  have  torches  or  dry  fagots  well  fastened  to 
their  horns,  and  lighting  them  in  the  beginning  of  the 
night,  ordered  the  beasts  to  be  driven  on  towards  the 
heights  commanding  the  passages  out  of  the  valley  and 
the  enemy's  posts;  when  this  was  done,  he  made  his 
army  in  the  dark  leisurely  march  after  them.  The  oxen 
at  first  kept  a  slow,  orderly  pace,  and  with  their  lighted 
heads  resembled  an  army  marching  by  night,  astonishing 
the  shepherds  and  herdsmen  of  the  hills  about.  But 
when  the  fire  had  burnt  down  the  horns  of  the  beasts  to 
the  quick,  they  no  longer  observed  their  sober  pace,  but, 
unruly  and  wild  with  their  pain,  ran  dispersed  about,  toss- 
ing their  heads  and  scattering  the  fire  round  about 
them  upon  each  other  and  setting  light  as  they  passed  to 
the  trees.  This  was  a  surprising  spectacle  to  the  Romans 
on  guard  upon  the  heights.  Seeing  flames  which  ap- 
peared to  come  from  men  advancing  with  torches,  they 
were  possessed  with  the  alarm  that  the  enemy  was 
approaching  in  various  quarters,  and  that  they  were  being 
surrounded  ;  and,  quitting  their  post,  abandoned  the  pass, 
and  precipitately  retired  to  their  camp  on  the  hills. 
They  were  no  sooner  gone,  but  the  light-armed  of  Hanni- 
bal's men,  according  to  his  order,  immediately  seized  the 
heights,  and  soon  after  the  whole  army,  with  all  the  bag- 
gage, came  up  and  safely  marched  through  the  passes. 

Fabius,  before  the  night  was  over,  quickly  found  out 
the  trick ;  for  some  of  the  beasts  fell  into  his  hands ;  but 
for  fear  of  an  ambush  in  the  dark,  he  kept  his  men  all 
night  to  their  arms  in  the  camp.  As  soon  as  it  was  day, 
he  attacked  the  enemy  in  the  rear,  where,  after  a  good 
deal  of  skirmishing  in  the  uneven  ground,  the  disorder 
might  have  become  general,  but  that  Hannibal  detached 
from  his  van  a  body  of  Spaniards,  who,  of  themselves 
active  and  nimble,  were  accustomed  to  the  climbing  of 


FABIUS.  381 

mountains.  These  briskly  attacked  the  Roman  troops 
who  were  in  heavy  armor,  killed  a  good  many,  and  left 
Fabius  no  longer  in  condition  to  follow  the  enemy.  This 
action  brought  the  extreme  of  obloquy  and  contempt 
upon  the  dictator ;  they  said  it  was  now  manifeyt  that  he 
was  not  only  inferior  to  his  adversary,  as  they  had 
always  thought,  in  courage,  but  even  in  that  conduct, 
foresight,  and  generalship,  by  which  he  had  proposed  to 
bring  the  war  to  an  end. 

And  Hannibal,  to  enhance  their  anger  against  him, 
marched  with  his  army  close  to  the  lands  and  possessions 
of  Fabius,  and,  giving  orders  to  his  soldiers  to  burn  and 
destroy  all  the  country  about,  forbade  them  to  do  the 
least  damage  in  the  estates  of  the  Roman  general,  and 
placed  guards  for  their  security.  This,  when  reported  at 
Rome,  had  the  effect  with  the  people  which  Hannibal 
desired.  Their  tribunes  raised  a  thousand  stories  against 
him,  chiefly  at  the  instigation  of  Metilius,  who,  not  so 
much  out  of  hatred  to  him  as  out  of  friendship  to  Minu- 
cius,  whose  kinsman  he  was,  thought  by  depressing 
Fabius  to  raise  his  friend.  The  senate  on  their  part  were 
also  offended  with  him,  for  the  bargain  he  had  made  with 
Hannibal  about  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  the  conditions 
of  which  were,  that,  after  exchange  made  of  man  for 
man,  if  any  on  either  side  remained,  they  should  be 
redeemed  at  the  price  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  drachmas 
a  head.  Upon  the  whole  account,  there  remained  two 
hundred  and  forty  Romans  unexchanged,  and  the  senate 
now  not  only  refused  to  allow  money  for  the  ransoms, 
but  also  reproached  Fabius  for  making  a  contract,  con- 
trary to  the  honor  and  interest  of  the  commonwealth,  for 
redeeming  men  whose  cowardice  had  put  them  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.  Fabius  heard  and  endured  all  this 
with  invincible  patience ;  and,  having  no  money  by  him, 
and  on  the  other  side  being  resolved  to  keep  his  word 


382  FABIUS. 

with  Hannibal  and  not  to  abandon  the  captives,  he  de- 
spatched his  son  to  Rome  to  sell  land,  and  to  bring  with 
him  the  price,  sufficient  to  discharge  the  ransoms ;  which 
was  punctually  performed  by  his  son,  and  delivery  accord- 
ingly made  to  him  of  the  prisoners,  amongst  whom  many, 
when  they  were  released,  made  proposals  to  repay  the 
money ;  which  Fabius  in  all  cases  declined. 

About  this  time,  he  was  called  to  Rome  by  the  priests, 
to  assist,  according  to  the  duty  of  his  office,  at  certain 
sacrifices,  and  was  thus  forced  to  leave  the  command  of 
the  army  with  Minucius ;  but  before  he  parted,  not  only 
charged  him  as  his  commander-in-chief,  but  besought  and 
entreated  him,  not  to  come,  in  his  absence,  to  a  battle  with 
Hannibal.  His  commands,  entreaties,  and  advice  were 
lost  upon  Minucius ;  for  his  back  was  no  sooner  turned 
but  the  new  general  immediately  sought  occasions  to 
attack  the  enemy.  And  notice  being  brought  him  that 
Hannibal  had  sent  out  a  great  part  of  his  army  to  forage, 
he  fell  upon  a  detachment  of  the  remainder,  doing  great 
execution,  and  driving  them  to  their  very  camp,  with  no 
little  terror  to  the  rest,  who  apprehended  their  breaking 
in  upon  them ;  and  when  Hannibal  had  recalled  his  scat- 
tered forces  to  the  camp,  he,  nevertheless,  without  any 
loss,  made  his  retreat,  a  success  which  aggravated  his 
boldness  and  presumption,  and  filled  the  soldiers  with  rash 
confidence.  The  news  spread  to  Rome,  where  Fabius,  on 
being  told  it,  said  that  what  he  most  feared  was  Minu- 
cius's  success :  but  the  people,  highly  elated,  hurried  to 
the  forum  to  listen  to  an  address  from  Metilius  the  tri- 
bune, in  which  he  infinitely  extolled  the  valor  of  Minu- 
cius, and  fell  bitterly  upon  Fabius,  accusing  him  for  want 
not  merely  of  courage,  but  even  of  loyalty;  and  not 
only  him,  but  also  many  other  eminent  and  considerable 
persons ;  saying  that  it  was  they  that  had  brought  the 
Carthaginians  into  Italy,  with  the  design  to  destroy  the 


FABIUS.  383 

liberty  of  the  people ;  for  which  end  they  had  at  once 
put  the  supreme  authority  into  the  hands  of  a  single  per- 
son, who  by  his  slowness  and  delays  might  give  Hannibal 
leisure  to  establish  himself  in  Italy,  and  the  ])cople  of 
Carthage  time  and  opportunity  to  supply  him  with  fresh 
succors  to  complete  his  conquest, 

Fabius  came  forward  with  no  intention  to  answer  the 
tribune,  but  only  said,  that  they  should  expedite  the 
sacrifices,  that  so  he  might  speedily  return  to  the  army 
to  punish  Minucius,  who  had  presumed  to  fight  contrary 
to  his  orders;  words  which  immediately  possessed  the 
people  with  the  belief  that  Minucius  stood  in  danger  of 
his  life.  For  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  dictator  to 
imprison  and  to  put  to  death,  and  they  feared  that  Fabius, 
of  a  mild  temper  in  general,  would  be  as  hard  to  be 
appeased  when  once  irritated,  as  he  was  slow  to  be  pro- 
voked. Nobody  dared  to  raise  his  voice  in  opposition ; 
Metilius  alone,  whose  office  of  tribune  gave  him  security 
to  say  what  he  pleased  (for  in  the  time  of  a  dictatorship 
that  magistrate  alone  preserves  his  authority),  boldly 
applied  himself  to  the  people  in  the  behalf  of  Minucius  : 
that  they  should  not  suffer  him  to  be  made  a  sacrifice  to 
the  enmity  of  Fabius,  nor  permit  him  to  be  destroyed, 
like  the  son  of  Manlius  Torquatus,  who  was  beheaded  by 
his  father  for  a  victory  fought  and  triumphantly  won 
against  order ;  he  exhorted  them  to  take  away  from 
Fabius  that  absolute  power  of  a  dictator,  and  to  put  it 
into  more  worthy  hands,  better  able  and  more  inclined 
to  use  it  for  the  public  good.  These  impressions  very 
much  prevailed  upon  the  people,  though  not  so  far 
as  wholly  to  dispossess  Fabius  of  the  dictatorship.  But 
they  decreed  that  Minucius  should  have  an  equal  author- 
ity with  the  dictator  in  the  conduct  of  the  war ;  which 
was  a  thing  then  without  precedent,  though  a  little  later 
it  was  again  practised  after  the  disaster  at  Canute  ;  when 


384  FABIDS. 

the  dictator,  Marcus  Junius,  being  with  the  army,  they 
chose  at  Rome  Fabius  Buteo  dictator,  that  he  might 
create  new  senators,  to  supply  the  numerous  places  of 
those  who  were  killed.  But  as  soon  as,  once  acting  in 
public,  he  had  filled  those  vacant  places  with  a  sufficient 
number,  he  immediately  dismissed  his  lictors,  and  with- 
drew from  all  his  attendance,  and,  mingling  like  a  com- 
mon person  with  the  rest  of  the  people,  quietly  went 
about  his  own  affairs  in  the  forum. 

The  enemies  of  Fabius  thought  they  had  sufficiently 
humiliated  and  subdued  him  by  raising  Minucius  to  be 
his  equal  in  authority ;  but  they  mistook  the  temper  of 
the  man,  who  looked  upon  their  folly  as  not  his  loss,  but 
like  Diogenes,  who,  being  told  that  some  persons  derided 
him,  made  answer,  "But  I  am  not  derided,"  meaning 
that  only  those  were  really  insulted  on  whom  such  insults 
made  an  impression,  so  Fabius,  with  great  tranquillity  and 
unconcern,  submitted  to  what  happened,  and  contributed 
a  proof  to  the  argument  of  the  philosophers  that  a  just 
and  good  man  is  not  capable  of  being  dishonored.  His 
only  vexation  arose  from  his  fear  lest  this  ill  counsel,  by 
supplying  opportunities  to  the  diseased  military  ambition 
of  his  subordinate,  should  damage  the  public  cause. 
Lest  the  rashness  of  Minucius  should  now  at  once  run 
headlong  into  some  disaster,  he  returned  back  with  all 
privacy  and  speed  to  the  army ;  where  he  found  Minu- 
cius so  elevated  with  his  new  dignity,  that,  a  joint- 
authority  not  contenting  him,  he  required  by  turns  to 
have  the  command  of  the  army  every  other  day.  This 
Fabius  rejected,  but  was  contented  that  the  army  should 
be  divided;  thinking  each  general  singly  would  better 
command  his  part,  than  partially  command  the  whole. 
The  first  and  fourth  legion  he  took  for  his  own  division, 
the  second  and  third  he  delivered  to  Minucius ;  so  also 
of  the  auxiliary  forces  each  had  an  equal  share. 


FABIUS.  385 

Minucius,  thus  exalted,  could  not  contain  himself  from 
boasting  of  his  success  in  humiliating  the  high  and  power- 
ful office  of  the  dictatorship.  Fabius  quietly  reminded 
him  that  it  was,  in  all  wisdom,  Hannibal,  and  not  Fabius, 
whom  he  had  to  combat ;  but  if  he  must  needs  contend 
with  his  colleague,  it  had  best  be  in  diligence  and  care 
for  the  preservation  of  Rome ;  that  it  might  not  be  siiid, 
a  man  so  favored  by  the  people  served  them  worse  than 
he  who  had  been  ill-treated  and  disgraced  by  them. 

The  young  general,  despising  these  admonitions  as  the 
false  humility  of  age,  immediately  removed  with  the 
body  of  his  army,  and  encamped  by  himself.  Hannibal, 
who  was  not  ignorant  of  all  these  passages,  lay  watching 
his  advantage  from  them.  It  happened  that  between  his 
army  and  that  of  Minucius  there  was  a  certain  eminence, 
which  seemed  a  very  advantageous  and  not  difficult  post 
to  encamp  upon ;  the  level  field  around  it  appeared,  from 
a  distance,  to  be  all  smooth  and  even,  though  it  had 
many  inconsiderable  ditches  and  dips  in  it,  not  discerni- 
ble to  the  eye.  Hannibal,  had  he  pleased,  could  easily 
have  possessed  himself  of  this  ground ;  but  he  had  re- 
served it  for  a  bait,  or  train,  in  proper  season,  to  draw 
the  Romans  to  an  engagement.  Now  that  Minucius  and 
Fabius  were  divided,  he  thought  the  opportunity  fair  for 
his  purpose;  and,  therefore,  having  in  the  night  time 
lodged  a  convenient  number  of  his  men  in  these  ditches 
and  hollow  places,  early  in  the  morning  he  sent  forth  a 
small  detachment,  who,  in  the  sight  of  Minucius,  pro- 
ceeded to  possess  themselves  of  the  rising  ground.  Ac- 
cording to  his  expectation,  Minucius  swallowed  the  bait, 
and  first  sends  out  his  light  troops,  and  after  them  some 
horse,  to  dislodge  the  enemy ;  and,  at  last,  when  he  saw 
Hannibal  in  person  advancing  to  the  assistance  of  his 
men,  marched  down  with  his  whole  army  drawn  up. 
He  engaged  with  the  troops  on  the  eminence,  and  su^ 

VOL.  I.  25 


386  FABIUS. 

tained  their  missiles;  the  combat  for  some  time  was 
equal;  but  as  soon  as  Hannibal  perceived  that  the  whole 
army  was  now  sufficiently  advanced  within  the  toils  he 
had  set  for  them,  so  that  their  backs  were  open  to  his 
men  whom  he  had  posted  in  the  hollows,  he  gave  the 
signal ;  upon  which  they  rushed  forth  from  various  quar- 
ters, and  with  loud  cries  furiously  attacked  Minucius  in 
the  rear.  The  surprise  and  the  slaughter  was  great,  and 
struck  universal  alarm  and  disorder  through  the  whole 
army.  Minucius  himself  lost  all  his  confidence;  he 
looked  from  officer  to  officer,  and  found  all  alike  unpre- 
pared to  face  the  danger,  and  yielding  to  a  flight,  which, 
however,  could  not  end  in  safety.  The  Numidian  horse- 
men were  already  in  full  victory  riding  about  the  plain, 
cutting  down  the  fugitives. 

Fabius  was  not  ignorant  of  this  danger  of  his  country- 
men ;  he  foresaw  what  would  happen  from  the  rashness 
of  Minucius,  and  the  cunning  of  Hannibal ;  and,  there- 
fore, kept  his  men  to  their  arms,  in  readiness  to  wait  the 
event ;  nor  would  he  trust  to  the  reports  of  others,  but  he 
himself,  in  front  of  his  camp,  viewed  all  that  passed.  When, 
therefore,  he  saw  the  army  of  Minucius  encompassed  by 
the  enemy,  and  that  by  their  countenance  and  shifting 
their  ground,  the}''  appeared  more  disposed  to  flight  than 
to  resistance,  with  a  great  sigh,  striking  his  hand  upon 
his  thigh,  he  said  to  those  about  him,  "  0  Hercules !  how 
much  sooner  than  I  expected,  though  later  than  he 
seemed  to  desire,  hath  Minucius  destroyed  himself ! " 
He  then  commanded  the  ensigns  to  be  led  forward  and 
the  army  to  follow,  telling  them,  •'  We  must  make  haste 
to  rescue  Minucius,  who  is  a  valiant  man,  and  a  lover  of 
his  country ;  and  if  he  hath  been  too  forward  to  engage 
the  enemy,  at  another  time  we  will  tell  him  of  it."  Thus, 
at  the  head  of  his  men,  Fabius  marched  up  to  the  enemy, 
and  first  cleared  the  plain  of  the  Numidians ;  and  next 


FABIUS.  387 

fell  upon  those  who  were  charging  the  Romans  in  the 
rear,  cutting  down  all  that  made  opposition,  and  obliging 
the  rest  to  save  themselves  by  a  hasty  retreat,  lest  they 
should  be  environed  as  the  Romans  had  been.  Han- 
nibal, seeing  so  sudden  a  change  of  aflfliirs,  and  Fabius, 
beyond  the  force  of  his  age,  opening  his  way  through  the 
ranks  up  the  hill-side,  that  he  might  join  Minucius,  warily 
forbore,  sounded  a  retreat,  and  drew  off  his  men  into 
their  camp  ;  while  the  Romans  on  their  part  were  no 
less  contented  to  retire  in  safety.  It  is  reported  that 
upon  this  occasion  Hannibal  said  jestingly  to  his  friends : 
"  Did  not  I  tell  you,  that  this  cloud  which  always  hovered 
upon  the  mountains  would,  at  some  time  or  other,  come 
down  with  a  storm  upon  us  ?  " 

Fabius,  after  his  men  had  picked  up  the  spoils  of  the 
field,  retired  to  his  own  camp,  without  saying  any  harsh 
or  reproachful  thing  to  his  colleague ;  who  also  on  his 
part,  gathering  his  army  together,  spoke  and  said  to  them  : 
"  To  conduct  great  matters  and  never  commit  a  fault  is 
above  the  force  of  human  nature ;  but  to  learn  and 
improve  by  the  faults  we  have  committed,  is  that  which 
becomes  a  good  and  sensible  man.  Some  reasons  I  may 
have  to  accuse  fortune,  but  I  have  many  more  to  thank 
her ;  for  in  a  few  hours  she  hath  cured  a  long  mistake, 
and  taught  me  that  I  am  not  the  man  who  should  com- 
mand others,  but  have  need  of  another  to  command  me  ; 
and  that  we  are  not  to  contend  for  victory  over  those  to 
whom  it  is  our  advantage  to  yield.  Therefore  in  every 
thing  else  henceforth  the  dictator  must  be  your  com- 
mander ;  only  in  showing  gratitude  towards  him  I  will 
still  be  your  leader,  and  always  be  the  first  to  obey  his 
orders."  Having  said  this,  he  commanded  the  Roman 
eagles  to  move  forward,  and  all  his  men  to  follow  him  to 
the  camp  of  Fabius.  The  soldiers,  then,  as  he  entered, 
stood  amazed  at  the  novelty  of  the  sight,  and  were  anx- 


388  FABIUS. 

ious  and  doubtful  what  the  meaning  might  be.  "When 
he  came  near  the  dictator's  tent,  Fabius  went  forth  to 
meet  him,  on  which  he  at  once  laid  his  standards  at  his 
feet,  calling  him  with  a  loud  voice  his  father ;  while  the 
soldiers  with  him  saluted  the  soldiers  here  as  their  pa- 
trons, the  term  employed  by  freedmen  to  those  who  gave 
them  their  liberty.  After  silence  was  obtained,  Minucius 
said,  "  You  have  this  day,  0  dictator,  obtained  two 
victories ;  one  by  your  valor  and  conduct  over  Hannibal, 
and  another  by  your  wisdom  and  goodness  over  your 
colleague;  by  one  victory  you  preserved,  and  by  the 
other  instructed  us  ;  and  when  we  were  already  suffering 
one  shameful  defeat  from  Hannibal,  by  another  welcome 
one  from  you  we  were  restored  to  honor  and  safety.  I 
can  address  you  by  no  nobler  name  than  that  of  a  kind 
father,  though  a  father's  beneficence  falls  short  of  that  I 
have  received  from  you.  From  a  father  I  individually 
received  the  gift  of  life ;  to  you  I  owe  its  preservation 
not  for  myself  only,  but  for  all  these  who  are  under  me." 
After  this,  he  threw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  dicta- 
tor ;  and  in  the  same  manner  the  soldiers  of  each  army 
embraced  one  another  with  gladness  and  tears  of  joy. 

Not  long  after,  Fabius  laid  down  the  dictatorship,  and 
consuls  were  again  created.  Those  who  immediately  suc- 
ceeded, observed  the  same  method  in  managing  the  war, 
and  avoided  all  occasions  of  fighting  Hannibal  in  a 
pitched  battle ;  they  only  succored  their  allies,  and  pre- 
served the  towns  from  falling  off  to  the  enemy.  But 
afterwards,  when  Terentius  Varro,  a  man  of  obscure  birth, 
but  very  popular  and  bold,  had  obtained  the  consulship, 
he  soon  made  it  appear  that  by  his  rashness  and  igno- 
rance he  would  stake  the  whole  commonwealth  on  the 
hazard.  For  it  was  his  custom  to  declaim  in  all  assem- 
blies, that,  as  long  as  Rome  employed  generals  like  Fabius, 
there  never  would  be  an  end  of  the  war ;  vaunting  that 


FABIUS.  389 

whenever  he  should  get  sight  of  the  enemy,  he  would 
that  same  day  free  Italy  from  the  strangers.  With  these 
promises  he  so  prevailed,  that  he  raised  a  greater  army 
than  had  ever  yet  been  sent  out  of  Rome.  Tliere  were 
enlisted  eighty-eight  thousand  fighting  men ;  but  what 
gave  confidence  to  the  populace,  only  terrified  the  wise 
and  experienced,  and  none  more  than  Fabius ;  since  if  so 
great  a  body,  and  the  flower  of  the  Ho  man  youth,  should 
be  cut  off,  they  could  not  see  any  new  resource  for  the 
safety  of  Rome.  They  addressed  themselves,  therefore, 
to  the  other  consul,  ^milius  Paulus,  a  man  of  great  expe- 
rience in  war,  but  unpopular,  and  fearful  also  of  the  peo- 
ple, who  once  before  upon  some  impeachment  had  con- 
demned him ;  so  that  he  needed  encouragement  to  with- 
stand his  colleague's  temerity.  Fabius  told  him,  if  he 
would  profitabl}''  serve  his  countr}'^,  he  must  no  less 
oppose  Varro's  ignorant  eagerness  than  Hannibal's  con- 
scious readiness,  since  both  alike  conspired  to  decide  the 
fate  of  Rome  by  a  battle.  "  It  is  more  reasonable,"  he 
said  to  him,  "  that  you  should  believe  me  than  Yarro,  in 
matters  relating  to  Hannibal,  when  I  tell  you,  that  if  for 
this  year  you  abstain  from  fighting  with  him,  either  his 
army  will  perish  of  itself,  or  else  he  will  be  glad  to 
depart  of  his  own  will.  This  evidently  appears,  inasmuch 
as,  notwithstanding  his  victories,  none  of  the  countries  or 
towns  of  Italy  come  in  to  him,  and  his  army  is  not  now 
the  third  part  of  what  it  was  at  first."  To  this  Paulus 
is  said  to  have  replied,  "Did  I  only  consider  myself,  I 
should  rather  choose  to  be  exposed  to  the  weapons  of 
Hannibal  than  once  more  to  the  suffrages  of  my  fellow- 
citizens,  who  are  urgent  for  what  you  disapprove:  yet 
since  the  cause  of  Rome  is  at  stake,  I  will  rather  seek  in 
my  conduct  to  please  and  obey  Fabius  than  all  the  world 
besides." 

These   good   measures  were  defeated  by   the   impor- 


390  FABIUS. 

tunity  of  Varro ;  whom,  when  they  were  both  come  to 
the  army,  nothing  would  content  but  a  separate  com- 
mand, that  each  consul  should  have  his  day ;  and  when 
his  turn  came,  he  posted  his  army  close  to  Hannibal,  at  a 
village  called  Cannse,  by  the  river  Aufidus.  It  was  no 
sooner  day,  but  he  set  up  the  scarlet  coat  flying  over  his 
tent,  which  was  the  signal  of  battle.  This  boldness  of 
the  consul,  and  the  numerousness  of  his  army,  double 
theirs,  startled  the  Carthaginians;  but  Hannibal  com- 
manded them  to  their  arms,  and  with  a  small  train  rode 
out  to  take  a  full  prospect  of  the  enemy  as  they  were 
now  forming  in  their  ranks,  from  a  rising  ground  not  far 
distant.  One  of  his  followers,  called  Gisco,  a  Cartha- 
ginian of  equal  rank  with  himself,  told  him  that  the 
numbers  of  the  enemy  were  astonishing;  to  which  Han- 
nibal replied,  with  a  serious  countenance,  "  There  is  one 
thing,  Gisco,  yet  more  astonishing,  which  you  take  no 
notice  of;"  and  when  Gisco  inquired  what,  answered, 
that  "  in  all  those  great  numbers  before  us,  there  is  not 
one  man  called  Gisco."  This  unexpected  jest  of  their 
general  made  all  the  company  laugh,  and  as  they  came 
down  from  the  hill,  they  told  it  to  those  whom  they  met, 
which  caused  a  general  laughter  amongst  them  all,  from 
which  they  were  hardly  able  to  recover  themselves.  The 
army,  seeing  Hannibal's  attendants  come  back  from 
viewing  the  enemy  in  such  a  laughing  condition,  con- 
cluded that  it  must  be  profound  contempt  of  the  enemy, 
that  made  their  general  at  this  moment  indulge  in  such 
hilarity. 

According  to  his  usual  manner,  Hannibal  employed 
stratagems  to  advantage  himself  In  the  first  place,  he  so 
drew  up  his  men  that  the  wind  was  at  their  backs,  which 
at  that  time  blew  with  a  perfect  storm  of  violence,  and, 
sweeping  over  the  great  plains  of  sand,  carried  before  it 
a  cloud  of  dust  over   the   Carthaginian  army  into   the 


FABIUS.  391 

faces  of  the  Romans,  which  much  disturbed  them  in  the 
fight.  In  the  next  place,  all  his  best  men  he  put  into  hia 
wings;  and  in  the  body,  which  was  somewhat  more 
advanced  than  the  wings,  placed  the  worst  and  the  weak- 
est of  his  army.  He  commanded  those  in  the  wings, 
that,  when  the  enemy  had  made  a  thorough  charge  upon 
that  middle  advanced  body,  which  he  knew  would  recoil, 
as  not  being  able  to  withstand  their  shock,  and  when  the 
Romans,  in  their  pursuit,  should  be  far  enough  engaged 
within  the  two  wings,  they  should,  both  on  the  right  and 
the  left,  charge  them  in  the  flank,  and  endeavor  to 
encompass  them.  This  appears  to  have  been  the  chief 
cause  of  the  Roman  loss.  Pressing  upon  Hannibal's  front, 
which  gave  ground,  they  reduced  the  form  of  his  army 
into  a  perfect  half-moon,  and  gave  ample  opportunity  to 
the  captains  of  the  chosen  troops  to  charge  them  right 
and  left  on  their  flanks,  and  to  cut  off  and  destroy  all 
who  did  not  fall  back  before  the  Carthaginian  wings 
united  in  their  rear.  To  this  general  calamity,  it  is  also 
said,  that  a  strange  mistake  among  the  cavalry  much  con- 
tributed. For  the  horse  of  ^milius  receiving  a  hurt  and 
throwing  his  master,  those  about  him  immediately  alighted 
to  aid  the  consul ;  and  the  Roman  troops,  seeing  their  com- 
manders thus  quitting  their  horses,  took  it  for  a  sign  that 
they  should  all  dismount  and  charge  the  enemy  on  foot. 
At  the  sight  of  this,  Hannibal  was  heard  to  say,  "  This 
pleases  me  better  than  if  they  had  been  delivered  to  me 
bound  hand  and  foot."  For  the  particulars  of  this  en- 
gagement, we  refer  our  reader  to  those  authors  who  have 
written  at  large  upon  the  subject. 

The  consul  Varro,  with  a  thin  company,  fled  to  Venu- 
sia;  ^milius  Paulus,  unable  any  longer  to  oppose  the 
flight  of  his  men,  or  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  his  body 
all  covered  with  wounds,  and  his  soul  no  less  wounded 
with  grief,  sat  himself  down  upon  a  stone,  expecting  the 


392  FABIUS. 

kindness  of  a  despatching  blow.  His  face  was  so  disfig- 
ured, and  all  his  person  so  stained  with  blood,  that  his 
very  friends  and  domestics  passing  by  knew  him  not. 
At  last  Cornelius  Lentulus,  a  young  man  of  patrician 
race,  perceiving  who  he  was,  alighted  from  his  horse,  and, 
tendering  it  to  him,  desired  him  to  get  up  and  save  a  life 
so  necessary  to  the  safety  of  the  commonwealth,  which, 
at  this  time,  would  dearly  want  so  great  a  captain.  But 
nothing  could  prevail  upon  him  to  accept  of  the  offer ;  he 
obliged  young  Lentulus,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  to  remount 
his  horse ;  then  standing  up,  he  gave  him  bis  hand,  and 
commanded  him  to  tell  Fabius  Maximus  that  ^milius 
Paulus  had  followed  his  directions  to  his  very  last,  and 
had  not  in  the  least  deviated  from  those  measures  which 
were  agreed  between  them;  but  that  it  was  his  hard 
fate  to  be  overpowered  by  Yarro  in  the  first  place,  and 
secondly  by  Hannibal.  Having  despatched  Lentulus 
with  this  commission,  he  marked  where  the  slaughter  was 
greatest,  and  there  threw  himself  upon  the  swords  of  the 
enemy.  In  this  battle  it  is  reported  that  fifty  thousand 
Romans  were  slain,  four  thousand  prisoners  taken  in  the 
field,  and  ten  thousand  in  the  camp  of  both  consuls. 

The  friends  of  Hannibal  earnestly  persuaded  him  to 
follow  up  his  victory,  and  pursue  the  flying  Romans  into 
the  very  gates  of  Rome,  assuring  him  that  in  five  days' 
time  he  might  sup  in  the  capitol ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  imag- 
ine what  consideration  hindered  him  from  it.  It  would 
seem  rather  that  some  supernatural  or  divine  interven- 
tion caused  the  hesitation  and  timidity  which  he  now 
displayed,  and  which  made  Barcas,  a  Carthaginian,  tell 
him  with  indignation,  "You  know,  Hannibal,  how  to 
gain  a  victory,  but  not  how  to  use  it."  Yet  it  produced 
a  marvellous  revolution  in  his  affairs ;  he,  who  hitherto 
had  not  one  town,  market,  or  seaport  in  his  possession, 
who  had  nothing  for  the  subsistence  of  his  men  but  what 


FABIUS.  308 

he  pillaged  from  day  to  day,  who  had  no  place  of  retreat 
or  basis  of  operation,  but  was  roving,  as  it  were,  with  a 
huge  troop  of  banditti,  now  became  master  of  the  best 
provinces  and  towns  of  Italy,  and  of  Capua  itself,  next 
to  Rome  the  most  flourishing  and  opulent  city,  all  which 
came  over  to  him,  and  submitted  to  his  authority. 

It  is  the  saying  of  Euripides,  that  "  a  man  is  in  ill-case 
when  he  must  try  a  friend,"  and  so  neither,  it  would 
seem,  is  a  state  in  a  good  one,  when  it  needs  an  able 
general.  And  so  it  was  with  the  Romans ;  the  counsels 
and  actions  of  Fabius,  which,  before  the  battle,  they  had 
branded  as  cowardice  and  fear,  now,  in  the  other  extreme 
they  accounted  to  have  been  more  than  human  wisdom  ; 
as  though  nothing  but  a  divine  power  of  intellect  could 
have  seen  so  far,  and  foretold,  contrary  to  the  judgment 
of  all  others,  a  result  which,  even  now  it  had  arrived,  was 
hardly  credible.  In  him,  therefore,  they  placed  their 
whole  remaining  hopes ;  his  wisdom  was  the  sacred  altar 
and  temple  to  which  they  fled  for  refuge,  and  his  coun- 
sels, more  than  any  thing,  preserved  them  from  dispersing 
and  deserting  their  city,  as  in  the  time  when  the  Gauls 
took  possession  of  Rome.  He,  whom  they  esteemed 
fearful  and  pusillanimous  when  they  were,  as  they 
thought,  in  a  prosperous  condition,  was  now  the  only 
man,  in  this  general  and  unbounded  dejection  and  confu- 
sion, who  showed  no  fear,  but  walked  the  streets  with  an 
assured  and  serene  countenance,  addressed  his  fellow-citi- 
zens, checked  the  w^omen's  lamentations,  and  the  public 
gatherings  of  those  who  wanted  thus  to  vent  their  sor- 
rows. He  caused  the  senate  to  meet,  he  heartened  up 
the  magistrates,  and  was  himself  as  the  soul  and  life  of 
every  ofl&ce. 

He  placed  guards  at  the  gates  of  the  city  to  stop  the 
frighted  multitude  from  flying ;  he  regulated  and  con- 
fined their  mournings  for  their  slain  friends,  both  as  to 


394  FABIUS. 

time  and  place ;  ordering  that  each  family  should  perform 
such  observances  within  private  walls,  and  that  they 
should  continue  only  the  space  of  one  month,  and  then 
the  whole  city  should  be  purified.  The  feast  of  Ceres 
happening  to  fall  within  this  time,  it  was  decreed  that 
the  solemnity  should  be  intermitted,  lest  the  fewness,  and 
the  sorrowful  countenance  of  those  who  should  celebrate 
it,  might  too  much  expose  to  the  people  the  greatness  of 
tlieir  loss ;  besides  that,  the  worship  most  acceptable  to 
the  gods  is  that  which  comes  from  cheerful  hearts.  But 
those  rights  which  were  proper  for  appeasing  their  anger, 
and  procuring  auspicious  signs  and  presages,  were  by  the 
direction  of  the  augurs  carefully  performed.  Fabius  Pictor, 
a  near  kinsman  to  Maximus,  was  sent  to  consult  the  oracle 
of  Delphi ;  and  about  the  same  time,  two  vestals  having 
been  detected  to  have  been  violated,  the  one  killed  her- 
self, and  the  other,  according  to  custom,  was  buried  alive. 

Above  all,  let  us  admire  the  high  spirit  and  equanimity 
of  this  Roman  commonwealth ;  that  when  the  consul 
Varro  came  beaten  and  flying  home,  full  of  shame  and 
humiliation,  after  he  had  so  disgracefully  and  calamitously 
managed  their  affairs,  yet  the  whole  senate  and  people 
went  forth  to  meet  him  at  the  gates  of  the  city,  and 
received  him  with  honor  and  respect.  And,  silence  being 
commanded,  the  magistrates  and  chief  of  the  senate, 
Fabius  amongst  them,  commended  him  before  the  people, 
because  he  did  not  despair  of  the  safety  of  the  common- 
wealth, after  so  great  a  loss,  but  was  come  to  take  the 
government  into  his  hands,  to  execute  the  laws,  and  aid 
his  fellow-citizens  in  their  prospect  of  future  deliverance. 

When  word  was  brought  to  Rome  that  Hannibal,  after 
the  fight,  had  marched  with  his  army  into  other  parts  of 
Italy,  the  hearts  of  the  Romans  began  to  revive,  and  they 
proceeded  to  send  out  generals  and  armies.  The  most 
distinguished  commands  were  held    by  Fabius  Maximus 


FABIUS.  396 

and  Claudius  Marcellus,  both  generals  of  great  fame, 
though  upon  opposite  grounds.  For  Marcellus,  as  we 
have  set  forth  in  his  life,  was  a  man  of  action  and  high 
spirit,  ready  and  bold  with  his  own  hand,  and,  as  Homer 
describes  his  warriors,  fierce,  and  delighting  in  fights. 
Boldness,  enterprise,  and  daring,  to  match  those  of  Hanni- 
bal, constituted  his  tactics,  and  marked  his  engagements. 
But  Fabius  adhered  to  his  former  principles,  still  per- 
suaded that,  by  following  close  and  not  fighting  him, 
Hannibal  and  his  army  would  at  last  be  tired  out  and 
consumed,  like  a  wrestler  in  too  high  condition,  whose 
very  excess  of  strength  makes  him  the  more  likely  sud- 
denly to  give  way  and  lose  it.  Posidonius  tells  us  that 
the  Romans  called  Marcellus  their  sword,  and  Fabius 
their  buckler ;  and  that  the  vigor  of  the  one,  mixed  with 
the  steadiness  of  the  other,  made  a  happy  compound 
that  proved  the  salvation  of  Rome.  So  that  Hannibal 
found  by  experience  that,  encountering  the  one,  he  met 
with  a  rapid,  impetuous  river,  which  drove  him  back, 
and  still  made  some  breach  upon  him ;  and  by  the  other, 
though  silently  and  quietly  passing  by  him,  he  was  insen- 
sibly washed  away  and  consumed ;  and,  at  last,  was 
brought  to  this,  that  he  dreaded  Marcellus  when  he  was 
in  motion,  and  Fabius  when  he  sat  still.  During  the 
whole  course  of  this  war,  he  had  still  to  do  with  one  or 
both  of  these  generals ;  for  each  of  them  was  five  times 
consul,  and,  as  praators  or  proconsuls  or  consuls,  they 
had  always  a  part  in  the  government  of  the  army, 
till,  at  last,  Marcellus  fell  into  the  trap  which  Hannibal 
had  laid  for  him,  and  was  killed  in  his  fifth  consulship. 
But  all  his  craft  and  subtlety  were  unsuccessful  upon 
Fabius,  who  only  once  was  in  some  danger  of  being 
caught,  when  counterfeit  letters  came  to  him  from  the 
principal  inhabitants  of  Metapontum,  with  promises  to 
deliver  up  their  town  if  he  would  come  before  it  with 


39G  FABIUS. 

his  army,  and  intimations  that  they  should  expect  him. 
This  train  had  almost  drawn  him  in;  he  resolved  to 
march  to  them  with  part  of  his  army,  and  was  diverted 
only  by  consulting  the  omens  of  the  birds,  which  he 
found  to  be  inauspicious ;  and  not  long  after  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  letters  had  been  forged  by  Hannibal, 
who,  for  his  reception,  had  laid  an  ambush  to  entertain 
him.  This,  perhaps,  we  must  rather  attribute  to  the 
favor  of  the  gods  than  to  the  prudence  of  Fabius. 

In  preserving  the  towns  and  allies  from  revolt  by  fair 
and  gentle  treatment,  and  in  not  using  rigor,  or  showing 
a  suspicion  upon  every  light  suggestion,  his  conduct  was 
remarkable.  It  is  told  of  him,  that,  being  informed  of  a 
certain  Marsian,  eminent  for  courage  and  good  birth,  who 
had  been  speaking  underhand  with  some  of  the  soldiers 
about  deserting,  Fabius  was  so  far  from  using  severity 
against  him,  that  he  called  for  him,  and  told  him  he  was 
sensible  of  the  neglect  that  had  been  shown  to  his  merit 
and  good  service,  which,  he  said,  was  a  great  fault  in  the 
commanders  who  reward  more  by  favor  than  by  desert ; 
"  but  henceforward,  whenever  you  are  aggrieved,"  said 
Fabius,  "  I  shall  consider  it  your  fault,  if  you  apply  your- 
self to  any  but  to  me;"  and  when  he  had  so  spoken, 
he  bestowed  an  excellent  horse  and  other  presents  upon 
him ;  and,  from  that  time  forwards,  there  was  not  a  faith- 
fuller  and  more  trusty  man  in  the  whole  army.  With 
good  reason  he  judged,  that,  if  those  w^ho  have  the  gov- 
ernment of  horses  and  dogs  endeavor  by  gentle  usage  to 
cure  their  angry  and  untractable  tempers,  rather  than  by 
cruelty  and  beating,  much  more  should  those  who  have 
the  command  of  men  try  to  bring  them  to  order  and 
discipline  by  the  mildest  and  fairest  means,  and  not  treat 
them  worse  than  gardeners  do  those  wild  plants,  which, 
with  care  and  attention,  lose  gradually  the  savageness  of 
their  nature,  and  bear  excellent  fruit. 


FABIUS.  397 

At  another  time,  some  of  his  officers  informed  liim 
thiit  one  of  their  men  was  very  often  absent  from  his 
place,  and  out  at  nights;  he  asked  them  what  kind  of 
man  he  was  ;  they  all  answered,  that  the  whole  army  had 
not  a  better  man,  that  he  was  a  native  of  Lucania,  and 
proceeded  to  speak  of  several  actions  which  they  had 
seen  him  perform.  Fabius  made  strict  inquiry,  and  dis- 
covered at  last  that  these  frequent  excursions  which  he 
ventured  upon  were  to  visit  a  young  girl,  with  whom  he 
was  in  love.  Upon  which  he  gave  private  order  to  some 
of  his  men  to  find  out  the  woman  and  secretly  convey 
her  into  his  own  tent ;  and  then  sent  for  the  Lucanian, 
and,  calling  him  aside,  told  him,  that  he  very  well  knew 
how  often  he  had  been  out  away  from  the  camp  at  night, 
which  was  a  capital  transgression  against  military  disci- 
pline and  the  Roman  laws,  but  he  knew  also  how  brave 
he  was,  and  the  good  services  he  had  done ;  therefore,  in 
consideration  of  them,  he  was  willing  to  forgive  him  his 
fault ;  but  to  keep  him  in  good  order,  he  was  resolved  to 
place  one  over  him  to  be  his  keeper,  who  should  be 
accountable  for  his  good  behavior.  Having  said  this,  he 
produced  the  woman,  and  told  the  soldier,  terrified  and 
amazed  at  the  adventure,  "  This  is  the  person  who  must 
answer  for  you  ;  and  by  your  future  behavior  we  shall 
see  whether  your  night  rambles  were  on  account  of  love, 
or  for  any  other  worse  design." 

Another  passage  there  was,  something  of  the  same 
kind,  which  gained  him  possession  of  Tarentum.  There 
was  a  young  Tarentine  in  the  army  that  had  a  sister  in 
Tarentum,  then  in  possession  of  the  enemy,  who  entirely 
loved  her  brother,  and  wholly  depended  upon  him.  He, 
being  informed  that  a  certain  Bruttian,  whom  Hannibal 
had  made  a  commander  of  the  garrison,  was  deeply  in 
love  with  his  sister,  conceived  hopes  that  he  might  possi- 
bly turn  it  to  the  advantage  of  the  Romans.     And  hav- 


398  FABIUS. 

ing  first  communicated  his  design  to  Fabius,  he  left  the 
army  as  a  deserter  in  show,  and  went  over  to  Tarentum. 
The  first  days  passed,  and  the  Bruttian  abstained  from 
visiting  the  sister ;  for  neither  of  them  knew  that  the 
brother  had  notice  of  the  amour  between  them.  The 
young  Tarentine,  however,  took  an  occasion  to  tell  his 
sister  how  he  had  heard  that  a  man  of  station  and 
authority  had  made  his  addresses  to  her,  and  desired  her, 
therefore,  to  tell  him  who  it  was ;  "  for,"  said  he,  "  if  he 
be  a  man  that  has  bravery  and  reputation,  it  matters  not 
what  countryman  he  is,  since  at  this  time  the  sword 
mingles  all  nations,  and  makes  them  equal ;  compulsion 
makes  all  things  honorable  ;  and  in  a  time  when  right  is 
weak,  we  may  be  thankful  if  might  assumes  a  form  of 
gentleness."  Upon  this  the  woman  sends  for  her  friend, 
and  makes  the  brother  and  him  acquainted ;  and  whereas 
she  henceforth  showed  more  countenance  to  her  lover 
than  formerly,  in  the  same  degrees  that  her  kindness 
increased,  his  friendship,  also,  with  the  brother  advanced. 
So  that  at  last  our  Tarentine  thought  this  Bruttian 
officer  well  enough  prepared  to  receive  the  ofl:ers  he  had 
to  make  him ;  and  that  it  would  be  easy  for  a  mercenary 
man,  who  was  in  love,  to  accept,  upon  the  terms  proposed, 
the  large  rewards  promised  by  Fabius.  In  conclusion, 
the  bargain  was  struck,  and  the  promise  made  of  deliver- 
ing the  town.  This  is  the  common  tradition,  though 
some  relate  the  story  otherwise,  and  say,  that  this  woman, 
by  whom  the  Bruttian  was  inveigled  to  betray  the  town, 
was  not  a  native  of  Tarentum,  but  a  Bruttian  born,  and 
was  kept  by  Fabius  as  his  concubine  ;  and  being  a  coun- 
trywoman and  an  acquaintance  of  the  Bruttian  governor, 
he  privately  sent  her  to  him  to  corrupt  him. 

Whilst  these  matters  were  thus  in  process,  to  draw  off 
Hannibal  from  scenting  the  design,  Fabius  sends  orders 
to  the  garrison  in  Rhegium,  that  they  should  waste  and 


FABIUS.  399 

spoil  the  Bruttian  country,  and  should  also  lay  siege  to 
Caulonia,  and  storm  the  place  with  all  their  might 
These  were  a  body  of  eight  thousand  men,  the  worst  of 
the  Roman  army,  who  had  most  of  them  been  runaways, 
and  had  been  brought  home  by  Marcellus  from  Sicily,  in 
dishonor,  so  that  the  loss  of  them  would  not  be  any  great 
grief  to  the  Romans.  Fabius,  therefore,  threw  out  these 
men  as  a  bait  for  Hannibal,  to  divert  him  from  Tarentum  ; 
who  instantly  caught  at  it,  and  led  his  forces  to  Caulonia ; 
in  the  mean  time,  Fabius  sat  down  before  Tarentum.  On 
the  sixth  day  of  the  siege,  the  young  Tarentine  slips  by 
night  out  of  the  town,  and,  having  carefully  observed  the 
place  where  the  Bruttian  commander,  according  to  agree- 
ment, was  to  admit  the  Romans,  gave  an  account  of  the 
whole  matter  to  Fabius ;  who  thought  it  not  safe  to  rely 
wholly  upon  the  plot,  but,  while  proceeding  with  secrecy 
to  the  post,  gave  order  for  a  general  assault  to  be  made 
on  the  other  side  of  the  town,  both  by  land  and  sea. 
This  being  accordingly  executed,  while  the  Tarentines 
hurried  to  defend  the  town  on  the  side  attacked,  Fabius 
received  the  signal  from  the  Bruttian,  scaled  the  walls, 
and  entered  the  town  unopposed. 

Here,  we  must  confess,  ambition  seems  to  have  over- 
come him.  To  make  it  appear  to  the  world  that  he  had 
taken  Tarentum  by  force  and  his  own  prowess,  and  not 
by  treachery,  he  commanded  his  men  to  kill  the  Brut- 
tians  before  all  others ;  yet  he  did  not  succeed  in  estab- 
lishing the  impression  he  desired,  but  merely  gained  the 
character  of  perfidy  and  cruelty.  Many  of  the  Taren- 
tines were  also  killed,  and  thirty  thousand  of  them  were 
sold  for  slaves ;  the  army  had  the  plunder  of  the  town, 
and  there  was  brought  into  the  treasury  three  thousand 
talents.  Whilst  they  were  carrying  off  everj-^  thing  else 
as  plunder,  the  officer  who  took  the  inventory  asked 
what  should  be  done  with  their  gods,  meaning  the  pic- 


400  FABIUS. 

tures  and  statues ;  Fabius  answered,  "  Let  us  leave  their 
angry  gods  to  the  Tarentines."  Nevertheless,  he  removed 
the  colossal  statue  of  Hercules,  and  had  it  set  up  in  the 
capitol,  with  one  of  himself  on  horseback,  in  brass,  near 
it ;  proceedings  very  different  from  those  of  Marcellus  on 
a  like  occasion,  and  which,  indeed,  very  much  set  off  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world  his  clemency  and  humanity,  as 
appears  in  the  account  of  his  life. 

Hannibal,  it  is  said,  was  within  five  miles  of  Tarentum, 
when  he  was  informed  that  the  town  was  taken.  He  said 
openly,  "  Rome,  then,  has  also  got  a  Hannibal ;  as  we 
won  Tarentum,  so  have  we  lost  it."  And,  in  private  with 
some  of  his  confidants,  he  told  them,  for  the  first  time, 
that  he  always  thought  it  difficult,  but  now  he  held  it 
impossible,  with  the  forces  he  then  had,  to  master  Italy. 

Upon  this  success,  Fabius  had  a  triumph  decreed  him 
at  Rome,  much  more  splendid  than  his  first ;  they  looked 
upon  him  now  as  a  champion  who  had  learned  to  cope 
with  his  antagonist,  and  could  now  easily  foil  his  arts  and 
prove  his  best  skill  ineffectual.  And,  indeed,  the  army  of 
Hannibal  was  at  this  time  partly  worn  away  with  con- 
tinual action,  and  partly  weakened  and  become  dissolute 
with  overabundance  and  luxury.  Marcus  Livius,  who 
was  governor  of  Tarentum  when  it  was  betrayed  to  Han- 
nibal, and  then  retired  into  the  citadel,  which  he  kept  till 
the  town  was  retaken,  was  annoyed  at  these  honors  and 
distinctions,  and,  on  one  occasion,  openly  declared  in  the 
senate,  that  by  his  resistance,  more  than  by  any  action  of 
Fabius,  Tarentum  had  been  recovered ;  on  which  Fabius 
laughingly  replied  :  "  You  say  very  true,  for  if  Marcus 
Livius  had  not  lost  Tarentum,  Fabius  Maximus  had  never 
recovered  it."  The  people,  amongst  other  marks  of 
gratitude,  gave  his  son  the  consulship  of  the  next  year ; 
shortly  after  whose  entrance  upon  his  office,  there  being 
some  business  on  foot  about  provision  for  the  war,  his 


FABIUS.  401 

father,  either  by  reason  of  age  and  infirmity,  or  per- 
haps out  of  design  to  try  his  son,  came  up  to  hira  on 
horseback.  While  he  was  still  at  a  distance,  the  3'oung 
consul  observed  it,  and  bade  one  of  his  lictors  command 
his  father  to  alight,  and  tell  hira  that,  if  he  had  any  busi- 
ness with  the  consul,  he  should  come  on  foot.  The 
standers  by  seemed  offended  at  the  imperiousness  of  the 
son  towards  a  father  so  venerable  for  his  age  and  his 
authority,  and  turned  their  eyes  in  silence  towards  Fabius. 
He,  however,  instantly  alighted  from  his  horse,  and  with 
open  arms  came  up,  almost  running,  and  embraced  his 
son,  saying,  "  Yes,  my  son,  you  do  well,  and  under- 
stand well  what  authority  you  have  received,  and  over 
whom  you  are  to  use  it.  This  was  the  way  by  which  we 
and  our  forefathers  advanced  the  dignity  of  Rome,  pre- 
ferring ever  her  honor  and  service  to  our  own  fathers 
and  children." 

And,  in  fact,  it  is  told  that  the  greatrgrandfather  of  our 
Fabius,  who  was  undoubtedly  the  greatest  man  of  Rome 
in  his  time,  both  in  reputation  and  authority,  who  had 
been  five  times  consul,  and  had  been  honored  with  sev- 
eral triumphs  for  victories  obtained  by  him,  took  pleasure 
in  serving  as  lieutenant  under  his  own  son,  when  he  went 
as  consul  to  his  command.  And  when  afterwards  his 
son  had  a  triumph  bestowed  upon  him  for  his  good  ser- 
vice, the  old  man  followed,  on  horseback,  his  triumphant 
chariot,  as  one  of  his  attendants;  and  made  it  his  glory, 
that  while  he  really  was,  and  was  acknowledged  to  be, 
the  greatest  man  in  Rome,  and  held  a  father's  full  power 
over  his  son,  he  yet  submitted  himself  to  the  laws  and 
the  magistrate. 

But  the  praises  of  our  Fabius  are  not  bounded  here. 
He  afterwards  lost  this  son,  and  was  remarkable  for  bear- 
ing the  loss  with  the  moderation  becoming  a  pious  father 
and  a  wise  man,  and,  as  it  was  the  custom  amongst  the 

VOL.  I.  26 


402  FABIUS. 

Romans,  upon  the  death  of  any  ilhistrious  person,  to 
have  a  funeral  oration  recited  by  some  of  the  nearest 
relations,  he  took  upon  himself  that  office,  and  delivered 
a  speech  in  the  forum,  which  he  committed  afterwards  to 
writing. 

After  Cornelius  Scipio,  who  was  sent  into  Spain,  had 
driven  the  Carthaginians,  defeated  by  him  in  many  bat- 
tles, out  of  the  country,  and  had  gained  over  to  Rome 
many  towns  and  nations  with  large  resources,  he  was 
received  at  his  coming  home  with  unexampled  joy  and 
acclamation  of  the  people ;  who,  to  show  their  gratitude, 
elected  him  consul  for  the  year  ensuing.  Knowing  what 
high  expectation  tbey  had  of  him,  he  thought  the  occu- 
pation of  contesting  Italy  with  Hannibal  a  mere  old 
man's  employment,  and  proposed  no  less  a  task  to  him- 
self than  to  make  Carthage  the  seat  of  the  war,  fill 
Africa  with  arms  and  devastation,  and  so  oblige  Hannibal, 
instead  of  invading  the  countries  of  others,  to  draw  back 
and  defend  his  own.  And  to  this  end  he  proceeded  to 
exert  all  the  influence  he  had  with  the  people.  Fa  bins, 
on  the  other  side,  opposed  the  undertaking  with  all  his 
might,  alarming  the  city,  and  telling  them  that  nothing 
but  the  temerity  of  a  hot  young  man  could  inspire  them 
with  such  dangerous  counsels,  and  sparing  no  means,  by 
word  or  deed,  to  prevent  it.  He  prevailed  with  the 
senate  to  espouse  his  sentiments ;  but  the  common  people 
thought  that  he  envied  the  fame  of  Scipio,  and  that  he 
was  afraid  lest  this  young  conqueror  should  achieve  some 
great  and  noble  exploit,  and  have  the  glory,  perhaps,  of 
driving  Hannibal  out  of  Italy,  or  even  of  ending  the  war, 
which  had  for  so  many  years  continued  and  been  pro- 
tracted under  his  management. 

To  say  the  truth,  when  Fabius  first  opposed  this  pro- 
ject of  Scipio,  he  probably  did  it  out  of  caution  and  pru- 
dence, in  consideration  only  of  the  public  safety,  and  of 


FABIUS.  403 

the  danger  which  the  commonwealth  might  incur;  but 
when  he  found  Scipio  every  day  increasing  in  the  esteem 
of  the  people,  rivalry  and  ambition  led  him  further, 
and  made  him  violent  and  personal  in  his  opposition. 
For  he  even  applied  to  Crassus,  the  colleague  of  Scipio, 
and  urged  him  not  to  yield  the  command  to  Scipio,  but 
that,  if  his  inclinations  were  for  it,  he  should  himself  in 
person  lead  the  army  to  Carthage.  He  also  hindered  the 
giving  money  to  Scipio  for  the  war ;  so  that  he  was 
forced  to  raise  it  upon  his  own  credit  and  interest  from 
the  cities  of  Etruria,  which  were  extremely  attached  to 
him.  On  the  other  side,  Crassus  would  not  stir  against 
him,  nor  remove  out  of  Italy,  being,  in  his  own  nature, 
averse  to  all  contention,  and  also  having,  by  his  office  of 
high  priest,  religious  duties  to  retain  him.  Fabius,  there- 
fore, tried  other  ways  to  oppose  the  design ;  he  impeded 
the  levies,  and  he  declaimed,  both  in  the  senate  and  to  the 
people,  that  Scipio  was  not  only  himself  flying  from 
Hannibal,  but  was  also  endeavoring  to  drain  Italy  of  all 
its  forces,  and  to  spirit  away  the  youth  of  the  country  to 
a  foreign  war,  leaving  behind  them  their  parents,  wives, 
and  children,  and  the  city  itself,  a  defenceless  prey  to  the 
conquering  and  undefeated  enemy  at  their  doors.  With 
this  he  so  far  alarmed  the  people,  that  at  last  they  would 
only  allow  Scipio  for  the  war  the  legions  which  were  in 
Sicily,  and  three  hundred,  whom  he  particularly  trusted, 
of  those  men  who  had  served  with  him  in  Spain.  In  these 
transactions,  Fabius  seems  to  have  followed  the  dictates 
of  his  own  wary  temper. 

But,  after  that  Scipio  was  gone  over  into  Africa,  when 
news  almost  immediately  came  to  Rome  of  wonderful 
exploits  and  victories,  of  which  the  fame  was  confirmed 
by  the  spoils  he  sent  home  ;  of  a  Numidian  king  taken 
prisoner  ;  of  a  vast  slaughter  of  their  men  ;  of  two  camps 
of  the  enemy  burnt  and  destroyed,  and  in  tliem  a  great 


404  FABIUS. 

quantity  of  arms  and  horses ;  and  when,  hereupon,  the 
Carthaginians  were  compelled  to  send  envoys  to  Hanni- 
bal to  call  him  home,  and  leave  his  idle  hopes  in  Italy,  to 
defend  Carthage  ;  when,  for  such  eminent  and  transcend- 
ing services,  the  whole  people  of  Rome  cried  up  and 
extolled  the  actions  of  Scipio ;  even  then,  Fabius  con- 
tended that  a  successor  should  be  sent  in  his  place,  alleg- 
ing for  it  only  the  old  reason  of  the  mutability  of  for- 
tune, as  if  she  would  be  wearj''  of  long  favoring  the  same 
person.  With  this  language  many  did  begin  to  feel 
offended ;  it  seemed  to  be  morosity  and  ill-will,  the 
pusillanimity  of  old  age,  or  a  fear,  that  had  now  become 
exaggerated,  of  the  skill  of  Hannibal.  Nay,  when  Han- 
nibal had  put  his  army  on  shipboard,  and  taken  his  leave 
of  Italy,  Fabius  still  could  not  forbear  to  oppose  and  dis- 
turb the  universal  joy  of  Rome,  expressing  his  fears  and 
apprehensions,  telling  them  that  the  commonwealth  was 
never  in  more  danger  than  now,  and  that  Hannibal  was  a 
more  formidable  enemy  under  the  walls  of  Carthage  than 
ever  he  had  been  in  Italy ;  that  it  would  be  fatal  to 
Rome,  whenever  Scipio  should  encounter  his  victorious 
army,  still  warm  with  the  blood  of  so  many  Roman  gen- 
erals, dictators,  and  consuls  slain.  And  the  people  were, 
in  some  degree,  startled  with  these  declamations,  and 
were  brought  to  believe,  that  the  further  off  Hannibal 
was,  the  nearer  was  their  danger.  Scipio,  however, 
shortly  afterwards  fought  Hannibal,  and  utterlj^  defeated 
him,  humbled  the  pride  of  Carthage  beneath  his  feet, 
gave  his  countrymen  joy  and  exultation  beyond  all  their 
hopes,  and 

"  Long  shaken  on  the  seas  restored  the  state." 

Fabius  Maximus,  however,  did  not  live  to  see  the  pros- 
perous end  of  this  war,  and  the  final  overthrow  of  Han- 
nibal, nor  to  rejoice  in  the  reestablished  happiness  and 


PERICLES   AND    FABIUS.  405 

security  of  the  commonwealth ;  for  alxnit  the  tune  that 
Hannibal  left  Italy,  he  fell  sick  and  died.  At  Thebes, 
Epaminondas  died  so  poor  that  he  was  buried  at  the  pub- 
lic charge ;  one  small  iron  coin  was  all,  it  is  said,  that 
was  found  in  his  house.  Fabius  did  not  need  this,  but 
the  people,  as  a  mark  of  their  aflection,  defrayed  the 
expenses  of  his  funeral  by  a  private  contribution  from 
each  citizen  of  the  smallest  piece  of  coin ;  thus  owning 
him  their  common  father,  and  making  his  end  no  less 
honorable  than  his  life. 


COMPARISON   OF  FABIUS   WITH   PERICLES. 

We  have  here  had  two  lives  rich  in  examples,  both  of 
civil  and  military  excellence.  Let  us  first  compare  the 
two  men  in  their  warlike  capacity.  Pericles  presided  in 
his  commonwealth  when  it  was  in  its  most  flourishing 
and  opulent  condition,  great  and  growing  in  power ;  so 
that  it  may  be  thought  it  was  rather  the  common  success 
and  fortune  that  kept  him  from  any  fall  or  disaster.  But 
the  task  of  Fabius,  who  imdertook  the  government  in 
the  worst  and  most  difficult  times,  was  not  to  preserve 
and  maintain  the  well-established  felicity  of  a  prosperous 
state,  but  to  raise  and  uphold  a  sinking  and  ruinous  com- 
monwealth. Besides,  the  victories  of  Cimon,  the  trophies 
of  Myronides  and  Leocrates,  with  the  many  famous 
exploits  of  Tolmides,  were  employed  by  Pericles  rather 
to  fill  the  city  with  festive  entertainments  and  solemni- 


406  PERICLES  AND  FABIUS. 

ties  than  to  enlarge  and  secure  its  empire.  Whereas 
Fabius,  when  he  took  upon  him  the  government,  had  the 
frightful  object  before  his  eyes  of  Koman  armies  destroyed, 
of  their  generals  and  consuls  slain,  of  lakes  and  plains 
and  forests  strewed  with  the  dead  bodies,  and  rivers 
stained  with  the  blood  of  his  fellow-citizens;  and  yet, 
with  his  mature  and  solid  counsels,  with  the  firmness  of 
his  resolution,  he,  as  it  were,  put  his  shoulder  to  the  fall- 
ing commonwealth,  and  kept  it  up  from  foundering 
through  the  failings  and  weakness  of  others.  Perhaps  it 
may  be  more  easy  to  govern  a  city  broken  and  tamed 
with  calamities  and  adversity,  and  compelled  by  danger 
and  necessity  to  listen  to  wisdom,  than  to  set  a  bridle  on 
wantonness  and  temerity,  and  rule  a  people  pampered 
and  restive  with  long  prosperity  as  were  the  Athenians 
when  Pericles  held  the  reins  of  government.  But  then 
again,  not  to  be  daunted  nor  discomposed  with  the  vast 
heap  of  calamities  under  which  the  people  of  Rome  at 
that  time  groaned  and  succumbed,  argues  a  courage  in 
Fabius  and  a  strength  of  purpose  more  than  ordinary. 

We  may  set  Tarentum  retaken  against  Samos  won  by 
Pericles,  and  the  conquest  of  Euboea  we  may  well  balance 
with  the  towns  of  Campania ;  though  Capua  itself  was 
reduced  by  the  consuls  Fulvius  and  Appius.  I  do  not  find 
that  Fabius  won  any  set  battle  but  that  against  the 
Ligurians,  for  which  he  had  his  triumph ;  whereas  Peri- 
cles erected  nine  trophies  for  as  many  victories  obtained 
by  land  and  by  sea.  But  no  action  of  Pericles  can  be 
compared  to  that  memorable  rescue  of  Minucius,  when 
Fabius  redeemed  both  him  and  his  army  from  utter 
destruction ;  a  noble  act,  combining  the  highest  valor, 
wisdom,  and  humanity.  On  the  other  side,  it  does  not 
appear  that  Pericles  was  ever  so  overreached  as  Fabius 
was  by  Hannibal  with  his  flaming  oxen.  His  enemy 
there  had,  without  his  agency,  put  himself  accidentally 


PERICLES  AND  FABIUS.  407 

into  his  power,  yet  Fabius  let  him  sHp  in  the  night,  and, 
when  day  came,  was  worsted  by  him,  wjus  anticipated  in 
the  moment  of  success,  and  mastered  by  his  prisoner.  If 
it  is  the  part  of  a  good  general,  not  only  to  provide  for 
the  present,  but  also  to  have  a  clear  foresight  of  things 
to  come,  in  this  point  Pericles  is  the  superior ;  for  he 
admonished  the  Athenians,  and  told  them  beforehand  the 
ruin  the  war  would  bring  upon  them,  by  their  grasping 
more  than  they  were  able  to  manage.  But  Fabius  was 
not  so  good  a  prophet,  when  he  denounced  to  the 
Romans  that  the  undertaking  of  Scipio  would  be  the 
destruction  of  the  commonwealth.  So  that  Pericles  was 
a  good  prophet  of  bad  success,  and  Fabius  was  a  bad 
prophet  of  success  that  was  good.  And,  indeed,  to  lose 
an  advantage  through  diffidence  is  no  less  blamable  in 
a  general  than  to  fall  into  danger  for  want  of  foresight ; 
for  both  these  faults,  though  of  a  contrary  nature,  spring 
from  the  same  root,  want  of  judgment  and  experience. 

As  for  their  civil  policy,  it  is  imputed  to  Pericles  that 
he  occasioned  the  war,  since  no  terms  of  peace,  offered 
by  the  Lacedemonians,  would  content  him.  It  is  true,  I 
presume,  that  Fabius,  also,  was  not  for  yielding  any  point 
to  the  Carthaginians,  but  was  ready  to  hazard  all,  rather 
than  lessen  the  empire  of  PiOrae.  The  mildness  of 
Fabius  towards  his  colleague  Minucius  does,  by  way  of 
comparison,  rebuke  and  condemn  the  exertions  of  Peri- 
cles to  banish  Cimon  and  Thucydides,  noble,  aristocratic 
men,  who  by  his  means  suffered  ostracism.  The  authority 
of  Pericles  in  Athens  was  much  greater  than  that  of 
Fabius  in  Rome.  Hence  it  was  more  easy  for  him  to 
prevent  miscarriages  arising  from  the  mistakes  and  insuf 
ficiency  of  other  officers ;  only  Tolmides  broke  loose  from 
him,  and,  contrary  to  his  persuasions,  unadvisedly  fought 
with  the  Boeotians,  and  was  slain.  The  greatness  of  his 
influence  made  all  others  submit  and  conform  themselves 


408  PERICLES  AND  FABIUS. 

to  his  judgment.  Whereas  Fabius,  sure  and  unerring 
himself,  for  want  of  that  general  power,  had  not  the  means 
to  obviate  the  miscarriages  of  others;  but  it  had  been 
happy  for  the  Romans  if  his  authority  had  been  greater, 
for  so,  we  may  presume,  their  disasters  had  been  fewer. 

As  to  liberality  and  public  spirit,  Pericles  was  eminent 
in  never  taking  any  gifts,  and  Fabius,  for  giving  his  o-wn 
money  to  ransom  his  soldiers,  though  the  sum  did  not 
exceed  six  talents.  Than  Pericles,  meantime,  no  man 
had  ever  greater  opportunities  to  enrich  himself,  having 
had  presents  offered  him  from  so  many  kings  and  princes 
and  allies,  yet  no  man  was  ever  more  free  from  corrup- 
tion. And  for  the  beauty  and  magnificence  of  temples 
and  public  edifices  with  which  he  adorned  his  country, 
it  must  be  confessed,  that  all  the  ornaments  and  struc- 
tures of  Rome,  to  the  time  of  the  Caesars,  had  nothing  to 
compare,  either  in  greatness  of  design  or  of  expense, 
with  the  lustre  of  those  which  Pericles  only  erected  at 
Athens. 


APPENDIX. 


The  Lives  in  the  first  volume  were  translated  for  Dryden's  edition,  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

Theseus,  by  R.  Duke,  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  (to  whom  two 
pages  are  given  by  Johnson  in  his  Lives  of  the  Poets). 

Romulus,  by  Mr.  James  Smallwood,  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge. 

Lycurgus,  by  Knightly  Chetwood,  Fellow  of  King's  College,  Cambridge. 

NuMA,  by  Sir  Paul  Rycaut,  (the  Turkey  merchant,  and  author  of  the  His- 
tory of  the  Turks). 

Solon,  by  Thomas  Creech,  of  Wadham  College,  Oxford,  (the  translator  of 
Lucretius). 

PoPLicoLA,  by  Mr.  Johnson. 

Themistocles,  by  Edward  Brown,  M-  D. 

Camillus,  by  Michael  PajTie,  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

Pericles,  by  Adam  Littleton,  D.  D. 

Fabius,  by  John  Caryl,  Esq. 

The  following  notes  may  be  added  to  those  given  with  the  text : 

Life  of  Theseus,  page  1.  —  Beautiful  and  far-famed,  ov  famed  in  Kong, 
are  current  epithets  of  Athens,  originally  given  by  Pindar.  The  two  verses 
just  above  are  from  the  scene  in  the  Seven  against  "^Tliebes  of  ..Eschylus,  where 
Eteocles  considers  what  captains  he  shall  post  against  the  assailants  at  each  of 
the  gates. 

Page  2.  —  Both  warriors,  that  by  all  l-he  world's  allowed, '19  from  Iliad,  VIL  281, 
said  by  the  heralds  of  Ajax  and  Hector,  when  they  come  to  part  them  after 
their  single  combat. 

Page  4.  —  The  Abantes  of  Euboea  wearing  their  hair  long  behind,  are  men- 
tioned in  the  Catalogue,  Iliad,  H.  543 ;  and  Strabo  speaks  of  Arabians,  com- 
panions of  Cadmus,  who  went  into  Eubcea. 

Page  11.  —  The  hamlets  of  Marathon,  (Enoe,  Tricorythus,  and  Probalinthus, 
formed  the  Tetrapolis  or  Four-towns,  which  is  reckoned  with  Sphettus,  Aphidna, 


410  APPENDIX. 

Eleusis,  and  others,  in  the  list  of  the  twelve  old  Attic  towns  or  townships,  all 
independent  of  each  other. 

Page  18. —  Theseus,  Pirithoiis,  mighty  sons  of  gods,  is  from  Odyssey,  XI.  630. 

Page  25.  —  The  pillar  is  mentioned  by  Strabo,  who  says  it  was  removed 
when  the  Dorians  of  Peloponnesus  invaded  the  Ionian  country,  and  settled  them- 
selves in  Megara.  The  translation  should  be  altered ;  the  original  does  not 
refer  to  the  inscription  as  a  still  existing  thing. 

Page  32.  —  Cora,  or  the  girl,  is  another  name  for  Proserpine ;  the  whole 
account  being  (like  the  story  of  Taurus),  a  late  transformation  of  fable  into 
something  that  might  seem  like  history. 

Page  35.  —  jEthra  and  CLymene  are  the  two  handmaids  who  attend  Helen 
(Iliad,  III.,  143)  from  her  chamber,  when  she  goes  to  seek  Priam  and  the  elders 
of  the  city  upon  the  walls  at  the  Scaean  gate. 

Life  of  IIomulxjs,  page  49.  —  Remuria  or  Remoria  is  the  name  found  else- 
where, instead  of  Remonium  or  Rignarium.  The  line  from  .3Jschylus  below 
is  out  of  The  Suppliants  (223). 

Page  56.  —  Sextius  Sylla,  the  Carthaginian,  was  one  of  Plutarch's  personal 
friends.  He  is  one  of  the  two  speakers  in  the  Dialogue  on  Controlling  Anger ; 
and  in  the  Symposiaca  (  VIII.  7)  he  gives  a  dinner  of  welcome  on  Plutarch's 
returning,  after  some  absence,  to  Rome.  Plutarch  says,  Greek  words  not  yet 
being  overpowered  by  Italian,  on  the  theory  that  the  early  language  was  Greek, 
which  was  gradually  corrupted.  By  the  Questions  he  means  his  little  book  of 
inquiry  into  points  of  Roman  antiquity,  his  Roman  Questions. 

Page  64.  —  Caius  Ccesar  is  the  emperor  Caligula. 

Page  66.  —  Periscylacismus,  from  peri,  around,  and  scylax,  a  dog. 

Page  69. —  The  loood  called  Ferentina,  should  be  the  gate.  There  was  a 
wood  (kule  in  Greek),  a  Lucus  Ferentinus,  as  well  as  a  gate  (pule),  but  there 
seecns  no  reason  to  change  the  latter  into  the  former. 

Page  74.  —  The  story  of  Aristeas  comes  from  Herodotus  (IV.  14,  15),  that 
of  Cleomedes,  the  hero  of  the  islet  of  Astypalaea,  is  told  also  by  Pausanias 
(VI.  9),  who  says  the  thing  happened  in  the  71st  Olympiad,  496  (b.  c).  The 
passage  from  Pindar  is  quoted  by  Plutarch  at  greater  length  elsewhere  (in  his 
Consolation  to  Apollonius  on  the  death  of  his  son),  as  a  part  of  one  of  his 
Funeral  Odes.  "  These  all  with  happy  lot  attain  the  end  that  releases  from 
labor.  And  the  body,  indeed,  in  all  cases,  is  taken  by  overmastering  death ; 
but  a  living  shape  (or  image  or  form)  yet  i*emains  of  the  life ;  (or  of  the  unend- 
ing existence  ;)  this  alone  being  from  the  gods  ;  while  our  limbs  are  stirring,  it 
slumbers,  but  when  we  sleep,  in  sundiy  dreams  it  foreshows  good  and  evil 
things  to  come."  Fragment  96,  in  Boeckh.  Another  piece  which  he  quotes  just 
before  from  these  funeral  songs  or  Threni,  describes  the  Blessed  as  walking  in 
their  beautifid  flowery  suburb,  diverting  themselves  with  horses  and  gymnastics, 
games  of  draughts  and  the  harp,  and  with  converse  on  lohat  has  happened,  and 
what  is."  —  Fragment  95. 

Page  79.  —  Comparison.  The  philosopher  Polemon,  one  of  the  early  succes- 
sors of  Plato,  was  the  author  of  this  definition  of  love ;  so  Plutarch  tells  us,  quot- 
ing it  again  in  one  of  his  Essays  (Ad  Principem  Ineruditum,  c.  3). 

T/iFE  OF  Lycurgus,  page  88.  —  Creophylus  is  the  correct  name,  which  the 


APPENDIX. 


411 


copies  of  Plutarch  change  into  Cleophylus,  and  Dryden's  coadjutor  miswrot*  or 
misprinted  Cleobvlus.  Creophylus  was  spoken  of  already  in  Plato's  time  as  the 
companion  of  Homer.  —  (De  Republica,  X.  p.  600.) 

Pages  90  and  92.  —  Plato's  criticisms  are  in  the  third  book  of  the  Laws,  pages 
691,  692. 

Page  113.  —  The  passage  of  Pindar  is  from  a  lost  and  unknown  poem.  One 
of  their  own  poets  is  Alcman. 

Page  122.  —  For  the  reference  to  Plato,  see  the  Timaeus,  p.  38,  where  the 
divine  Creator,  desirou.^  to  add  to  his  works  the  resemblance  of  eternity,  pro- 
ceeds to  create  "  this  which  we  call  Time." 

Life  of  Numa,  page  132.  —  Plutarch  speaks  more  at  length  of  this  dvttinc- 
tion  of  the  loise  Egyptians  in  one  of  the  Dinner  Conversations.  —  On  the  sixth 
of  Thargelion  they  kept  tlie  birthday  of  Socrates,  and,  on  the  seventh,  met 
a'^ain  to  celebrate  that  of  Plato.  Apollo  himself,  according  to  the  story,  had 
been  bom  on  this  seventh  day ;  and  it  had  been  no  disparagement  to  the  god, 
said  one  of  the  company,  to  attribute  to  him,  as  mauij  had  done,  the  mortal  pro- 
creation of  one  thai  had  been,  wider  the  ticition  of  Socrates,  a  greater  healer  of 
human  maladies  and  diseases  than  ever  JEsculapius  (Apollo's  mythological  son) 
had  become  under  that  of  Chiron.  And  he  referred,  at  the  same  time,  to  the 
warning  which  Ariston,  Plato's  acknowledged  father,  was  said  to  have  received 
in  a  dream,  forbidiliug  him  the  company  of  his  wife  during  the  ten  months  ]>re- 
ceding  Plato's  birth.  To  this  another  of  the  party  opposes  the  incorruptible 
nature  of  the  godhead :  yet  that  by  some  creative,  not  procreativc,  power,  the 
eternal  and  unbegotten  God  is  the  father  and  maker  of  the  world  and  all  begotten 
things,  Plato,  he  adds,  himself  admits,  nor  can  we  limit  the  modes  in  which  such 
divine  intervention  may  operate ;  and  then  he  gives  the  Eg}'ptian  dogma.  — 
(^Symposiaca,  VIII.  1). 

Page  138,  Note.  —  The  Greek  would,  however,  not  be  Aimulos  or  yEmylus, 
but  Haimulos. 

Page  139. —  The  stone  bridge,  the  Pons  iErailius  or  Lapideus,  seems  to  have 
been  built,  for  the  actual  traffic,  close  alongside  of  the  original  wooden  bridge,  the 
Pons  Sublicius,  which  was  allowed  to  remain  for  rehgious  purposes,  but  was  not 
otherwise  used.  Uionys-ius  of  Halicarnassus  says  it  was  still  remaining  in  his 
time. 

Page  148.  —  Dacier,  in  his  note  on  the  Egyptian  wheels,  reters  to  a  passage 
in  Clement  of  Alexandria,  to  the  ert'ect,  that  the  Egyptian  priests  gave  those 
who  came  to  the  temples  to  pray,  a  wheel,  which  they  were  to  turn,  and  flowera, 
both  of  them  emblems  of  change  and  instability. 

Page  152.  —  The  correct  name  is  not  Merco.dinus  but  Mercedonius. 
Page  15.5. —  The  verses  are  from  a  Paean,  or  song  of  triumphal  rejoicing,  of 
Bacchylides.     The  complete  passage  is  found  in  Stoba;us;  it  is  Fragment  13  of 
JBacchylides,  in  Bergk's  Poetse  Lyrici. 

Page  156. —  The  saying  which  Plato  ventured  to  pronounce,  is  the  famous  de- 
mand made  with  such  tear  and  trembling  in  the  fifth  book  of  the  Republic  (j).  473) 
for  the  rule  of  the  king-philosopher.  It  is  repeated  in  the  fourth  book  of  the 
r^aws,  from  which  latter  place  come  the  words  of  the  next  sentence,  the  iris' 


412  APPENDIX. 

man  is  blessed  in  himself ,  and  blessed  also  are  the  auditors  who  can  hear  and  re- 
ceive the  words  that  flow  from  his  mouth. 

Page  163.  —  Comparison.  These  with  the  young  men,  &c.,  is  from  the  Aodro 
mache  of  Euripides,  (597).  She  also,  the  young  maid,  on  the  next  page,  is  re- 
ferred by  some  to  the  Hermione,  by  some  to  the  Reclaiming  of  Helen,  both  of 
them  lost  plays  of  Sophocles.     It  is  the  Fragment  No.  791  in  Dindorf. 

Life  of  Solon,  page  168.  —  Hand  to  hand  as  in  the  ring,  Hterally,  like  a 
boxer,  hand  to  hand,  is  from  the  Trachlniae  of  Sophocles  (441)  ;  the  line  just 
above  is  the  eighth  of  the  Bacchas  of  Euripides. 

Page  1 70.  —  Work  is  a  shame  to  none,  the  shame  is  not  to  he  working,  is  the 
309th  Hue  of  Hesiod's  Works  and  Days. 

Page  1 79.  —  Munychia  was  best  known  to  the  Athenians  of  Plutarch's  time, 
as  one  of  the  strong-holds  invariably  occupied  by  the  garrisons  by  which  the 
kings  of  Macedon  had  controlled  the  city. 

Page  188. —  l^he  Tragedy  is  probably  the  Philoctetes,  one  of  the  lost  trage- 
dies of  Euripides.  Plutarch  quotes  it  more  fully  elsewhere :  "  What  bride,  what 
young  virgin  would  accept  thee  ?     Truly,"  &c. 

Page  193.  —  The  end  and  the  beginning  of  the  month,  occurs  twice  in  the 
Odyssey  (XIV.  162,  XIX.  307). 

Page  199.  —  For  Homer's  Ulysses,  see  the  fourth  book  of  the  Odyssey  (235- 
264),  where  Helen  relates,  at  Sparta,  to  Telemachus  and  Nestor's  son,  how 
Ulysses  entered  Troy,  as  a  spy,  in  the  dress  of  a  beggar,  and  was  recognized  by 
her  alone,  and  returned  after  killing  many  and  procuring  much  information. 

Page  201.  —  Plato,  on  the  mother's  side,  claimed  relationship  with  Solon,  so 
that  in  this  way,  the  story  of  the  Atlantis  came  with  some  title  to  him.  See  the 
TimsBus,  pp.  21  to  26. 

Life  of  Themistocles,  page  232.  —  The  Lycomedae  or  Lycomidae  were 
an  ancient  Attic  priestly  family.  Phlya  is  one  of  the  Attic  demi  or  townships ; 
and  the  record  found  in  Simonides  was  probably  an  epigram  inscribed  in  the 
chapel. 

Page  240.  —  The  two  lines  from  Pindar  are  quoted  by  Plutarch  in  three 
other  places ;  they  are  one  of  the  Fragments  of  his  lost  and  uncertain  poems, 
(Boeckh,  Fragment  96).  Olizonisone  of  the  places  whose  warriors,  in  Homer's 
Catalogue,  (Iliad,  II.  716-718),  are  led  by  Philoctetes,  —  "  The  dwellers  in  Me- 
thone  and  Thaumacia,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Meliboea  and  rocky  Olizon,  these 
Philoctetes  commanded,  skilful  with  the  bow." 

Page  243.  —  The  guides  in  the  time  of  Pausanias  showed  figures  in  a  colon- 
nade in  the  market-place  of  Trcezen,  which  they  said  were  the  representations 
of  these  Athenian  women  and  children,  erected  in  remembrance  of  their  stay 
in  the  town,  (Pausanias,  II.  31). 

Page  247.  —  The  verses  are  the  347th  and  following  of  the  Persae. 

Page  249.  —  Simonides  says  it  probably  in  an  ode  on  the  victory  at  Salamis, 
similar  to  those  of  which  some  fragments  remain,  on  the  battles  of  Artemesium 
and  Thermopylae.  A  few  of  the  words  —  was  ever  known  more  glorious  exploit 
on  the  seas,  are  pretty  certainly  a  part  of  the  original,  but  it  is  impossible  to  re- 
store the  verse. 


APPENDIX.  413 

Page  253.  —  The  passage  in  Aristophanes  is  the  812tli  Viiw  of  Uie  Equiuy*. 

Page  259.  —  Nicogenes  in  Diodorus  is  called  Lysitliides,  under  which  nauie  the 
o<uue  account  is  given  of  his  entertainment  of  Themistocles. 

Page  2G7.  —  Plato  in  the  Meno,  arguing  the  question  whether  virtue  or  tixcel- 
lence  is  a  thing  that  can  be  learnt  or  attained  by  training  and  practice,  or,  on 
the  contrary,  comes  to  us  by  divine  allotment,  j»oInts  out  how  Aristides  and 
Pericles,  and  all  the  great  Grecian  statesmen,  had  failed  to  uujjart  their  political 
wisdom  to  their  sons.  You  have  often  heard  U  sahl  that  Themislocles  (aught  his 
son  Cleophantus  to  be  such  an  admirahlc  rider,  that  he  could  stand  upright  on 
horseback,  and  could  throw  a  javelin  standing  upright ;  —  the  son  obviously  was  not 
without  ability/ ;  —  but  did  you  ever  hear  it  said  by  any  one,  that  Cleophantus 
showed  any  virtue,  skill,  or  tvisdom  in  the  same  sort  of  things  as  did  his  father  J 
Yet  he,  undoubtedly,  had  virtue  been  a  thing  to  be  taught,  would  have  taught  his 
son  the  virtue  and  wisdom  in  which  he  himself  excelled,  (pp.  98,  94).  Nothing 
is  known  beyond  what  is  here  said, of  the  Address  of  Andociiles  to  his  Friends. 
But  the  Friends,  or  rather  Comj)anious,  are  evidently  the  members  of  the  oli- 
garchical associations  or  clubs,  who  united  under  that  name  towards  the  end  of 
the  Peloponnesian  war. 

Like  of  Camillus,  page  273.  —  Matuta  is  quite  confidently  identified  with 
Ino  or  Leucothea,  by  Ovid  in  the  Fasti,  (VI.  475-562), 

Leucothee  Graiis,  Matuta  vocaberc  nostris. 

The  words,  they  embrace  their  In-others'  children  instead  of  their  own,  ought  pei- 
haps  to  be,  they  take  their  sisters'  children  .  ...  up  in  their  arms  to  present  them 
to  the  goddess.  Ino  heid  been  kinder  to  her  sister's  children  than  to  her  own 
Thus  Ond  says, 

Non  titmen  banc  pro  stirpe  sua  pia  mater  adoret: 

Ipsa  pamm  felix  visa  fuisse  parens : 

Alterius  prolem  melius  mandabitis  illi: 

Utilior  Baccho  quam  fuit  ipsa  suis. 

Page  288.  —  The  twenty-fifth  of  Boedromion,  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Arbela, 
should  be  the  twenty-sixth ;  and  the  day  which  the  Carthaginians  observe,  tlu 
twenty-first  of  Metagitnion,  should,  jjcrhaps,  be  corrected  to  the  twenty-second. 
Hesiod's  account  of  fortunate  and  unfortunate  days  is  appended  to  his  A\'ork« 
and  Days,  from  whence  Virgil  took  the  hint  for  his  in  the  Georgics. 

Page  290.  —  The  Greek  gives  the  past  tense  in  the  sentence,  Others  say  that 
this  fire  was  kept  burning,  &c. ;  but  it  should,  probably,  be  altered  all  through 
into  the  present. 

Page  291.  —  Doliola  is  the  Latin  name  of  the  place  called  the  Bairels.  "  It 
was  thought  best,"  says  Li\y  (T'.  40),  "  to  bury  them  in  barrels  in  the  chape! 
adjoining  the  house  of  the  flamen  of  Quirinus,  in  the  spot  where  now  it  is  con- 
sidered an  offence  against  religion  to  spit." 

Like  of  Pebicle8,  page  827.  —  Plato's  expression,  "  so  strong  a  draught  of 
liberty,"  occurs  in  the  8th  book  of  the  Republic,  (p.  562).  The  author  of  the 
verses  that  follow  is  unknown. 

Page  828.  —  The  quotation  from  Plato  is  from  the  passage  in  the  Phnedrue, 
where  Socrates  argues  that  the  knowledge  of  nature,  and,  in  particular,  of  th» 


414  APPENDIX. 

soul,  is  as  necessary  to  the  perfect  master  of  rhetoric,  as  the  knowledge  of  the 
body  is  to  the  phj-sieian.  Pericles  is  said  to  thunder  and  lighten  in  the  Achar- 
nians  of  Aristophanes  (530). 

Page  337. —  Socrates  says  he  heard  Pericles  propose  to  the  people  the  building 
of  the  long  wall  —  more  properly  the  middle  wall,  a  subsequent  addition  to  the 
long  walls  —  in  the  Gorgias  of  Plato,  (p.  456  a).  The  Odeum  was  burnt  in 
the  time  of  the  siege  of  Athens  by  Sylia,  to  be  described  in  Sylla's  life. 

Page  341. — The  quotation  from  Plato  is  again  out  of  the  Phaedrus,  (p.  261). 
Rhetoric  is  a  psychagogia  —  a  magic  power  of  swaying  and  carrying  about  the 
souls  of  men  by  the  use  of  words. 

Page  348.  —  The  brazen  wolf  at  Delphi  was  famous.  A  man  who  carried  off 
some  treasure  from  the  temple,  went  to  hide  it  in  the  thick  woods  of  Parnassus. 
A  wolf  fell  upon  him  and  killed  him ;  and  for  many  days  after  came  daily  into 
the  city  and  howled.  At  last  the  people  followed  him.,  discovered  the  gold,  and  set 
up  this  image  of  the  wolf  —  (Pausanias,  X.  14.) 

Page  353.  —  Aristophaues's  line  about  the  Samians  is  from  his  lost  comedy  of 
the  Babylonians. 

Page  354.  —  Most  likely  the  engineer  was  called  Periphoretus,  or  the  camed- 
about,  for  the  very  reason  that  the  name  was  already  familiar  from  Anacreon's 
verses. 

Page  356.  —  Cimon  is  said  to  have  given  these  names  to  his  sons  in  honor  of 
the  states  whom  he  represented,  as  Proxenus,  at  Athens. 

Page  358.  —  The  story  of  Anthemocritus  is  not  alluded  to  by  any  (-on temporary 
writer.  Yet  Pausanias  also  relates  it,  and  speaks  of  his  monument  as  still  re- 
maining on  the  Sacred  Road,  going  to  Eleusis ;  just  as  described  here,  outside 
the  Dipylon.  The  famous  verses  in  the  Acharnians  are  the  524th  and  fol- 
lowing. 

Page  368.  —  Sold  for  slaves  may  have  been  Plutarch's  expression,  but  the 
fact  itself  cannot  be  believed;  and  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  correct  the  one 
word  in  which  the  assertion  is  made. 

Page  870.  —  Olympus,  where  they  say  the  gods  have  their  ever  secure  abode, 
occurs  in  the  Odyssey  (VI.  42),  and  the  phrase  of  the  secure  abode  or  seat  is 
repeated  by  Pindar,  (Nem.  VI.  3). 

Life  of  Fabius,  page  393.  —  This  is  probably  a  fragment,  of  which  no 
more  is  known.     No  existing  line  of  Euripides  can  very  well  be  identified  with  it. 

Page  400.  —  This  brazen  colossal  statue  of  Hercules  was  the  work,  we  are 
told  by  Strabo  {VI.  c.  3),  of  Lysippus.  He  speaks  of  it  as  still  standing  in  his 
time  in  the  Capitol,  as  the  offering  of  Fabius  Maximus,  the  taker  of  the  city. 

Page  404.  —  "  Long  shaken  on  the  seas  restored  the  state,"  ia  said  of  Olldipua, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  (Edipus  Tyrannus. 


END   or   VOL.    I. 


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